Chicago is So Two Years Ago
by XDeliciouslyxEmOriFicX
Summary: Well, you play a girl named Nathalie Hurley who is Andy's adopted sister. While visiting Pete and some friends, she ends up having a summer fling with the bands new singer and guitarist Patrick Stump. But stuff happens and she runs away Fate takes over
1. My life: a little less ordinary

"Nathalie, I'm so sorry…I can't even imagine what you must be feeling being so young…" is what my aunt told me as she cried about the death of my parents in a car accident. I was only 8 years old, so of course, I wasn't necessarily reacting the way I was supposed to in these kinds of situations. I was more in a trance of shock than mourn, but no one would ever believe me if I had tried to tell them anything. So I kept my mouth shut for the longest time until I was placed with foster parents by the time I was 9.

"So are you ready to meet your new family?" asked Beth, my social worker, as she stepped out of the van and walked over and opened my door. "No. I don't want to be here. I want to go home," I said stubbornly, although I knew that my house wasn't my home anymore. She heaved a sigh that made me regret being so predictable. I bit my lip and hopped out and looked up at her with a look of impatience. She wasn't even that bad of a lady; it's just that I had just lost my parents and was being forced to live hundreds of miles from my home in Chicago, Illinois. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Give me a break. So I walked up with Beth to the front door and she knocked on it 3 times before a short kid around 13 years old answered it. He stared blankly at me, who stood small next to the tall professionally dressed Beth.

"Mom…dad…the adoption lady is here!" he called out and ran inside before dragging back his parents by the arms. After everything had been filed out and the messy work had been done, I was left alone in a house full of strangers. I sat on the couch silently as they all had their eyes directed on me. The boy who had answered the door, who I found out his name, was Andy, decided to break the awkward silence and said loudly, "So…what do you think of us so far?" I looked down at the floor before answering politely, "Nice house…" Andy started laughing before telling his parents that he was going to take me upstairs with him. He stands up and grabs my arm and pulls me up the stairs after him and into his room. His room was dark and filled with large posters on the walls.

"You're really quiet! You should talk a little more!" he shouted. I awkwardly pulled my knees to my chest and didn't say anything. He then put his face 2 inches away from yours and said, "please?"

"What do you want from me? My parents just died! What do you expect me to say?" you yelled in a quick gasp. You then shook off the anger and laid your head back on his bed. He climbed up and sat next to you and said, "This will be the start of a very nice brother-sister relationship."

**_9 years later::: Andy is 22. Nathalie is 18._**

"Come on, Nathalie. Get your things, let's go. We should be there already by now!" Andy yelled at me as I scurried to grab my suitcase and personal items. I walked outside and covered my eyes with sunglasses and hopped in the piece of shit car Andy drove. I put my stuff in the back and sat facing forward. We had set off on our way to Wilmette, Illinois to go visit Pete Wentz. Well, I was only in it because I didn't trust Andy to go alone. But seeing Pete would probably raise some memories that I'd rather not look back on. That boy seriously has some issues… So we were driving in the car and listening to the radio when Andy's cell phone rings.

"Hey, can you answer that for me?" he asks. I grab the phone and do so. Unfortunately, it was Pete.

"Well, if it isn't Nathalie! Hey babe, what are you doing with Andy's phone?" he said in a cocky tone. I made a face and said, "I'm in the car with him. What do you want?"

"Oh yeah, I just wanted to tell him that I found a guy who can sing for the new band and that he'd be here when you two arrive. In other words, be ready to be amazed." I rolled my eyes and said, "Well okay, I'll tell him that. Bye." "I'll be seeing you soon, Nat." I shut the phone and put it down and told Andy what Pete said about the new lead singer. Andy smiled and while ignoring the band subject, said, "So, do you think Pete still has the hots for you?"

"I don't want to know, because I don't care! He is far from ever being my type," I spat out harshly. Andy laughed and said, "What if this new guy is just like him? Wouldn't that be scary? Two Petes? Oh god, the horror!" He then started to swerve as his reaction to the idea of two Pete's in one band. I just laughed and shook my head and turned up the radio to Minority by Greenday.

I sighed and brushed my fingers through my dark hair and stared out the window at the empty wasteland. I started to mess with my camera after a while of driving with nothing to listen to but the radio. "God, don't you talk?" Andy said after nearly a half hour of no talking. I looked up at him with a solemn face.

"Why are you so sad? This trip is the perfect opportunity for you to take some incredible pictures for that photo portfolio you've been working on," he said trying to lighten up the conversation. I sighed, knowing he would continue prying until I spoke up. So I said, "I don't know. I just feel so worthless because you're in a band and that gives you something to do and all I've done since graduation is sit on my ass and not even try to get into college." He laughed and said, 'Pfft, that's not true. You've been working hard keeping our apartment rent paid. That's at least something! Plus, who knows what's going to happen when you get there?"

This comment made me smile a little, which made him satisfied enough to turn up the radio to Greener by the Scenery by The Used. I laid my head against the side panel of the door and fell asleep to the vibration of the car moving and the screams of Bert McCracken.


	2. Arriving in Wilmette

"Nathalie, wake up. We're here," Andy said softly as he tapped on my shoulder in order to wake me up. I opened my eyes and lifted myself out of the car and smoothed out my wrinkled pants and shirt and walked after him. "Andy! Hey man, how's it going?" said Joe as he greeted him with a hug. He looked at me and said, "Oh my god, Nathalie, you've grown a lot since I last saw you!" and hugged me as well. I smiled awkwardly and stood still as he released me from the hug, which left me open for one last person…Pete. I looked around in front of me and saw only Andy and Joe. I sighed in relief, thinking that Pete must have been out or something. But that wasn't the case.  
I then felt someone jump on my back, which startled me so bad that I nearly toppled to the floor. 'Nathalie!" Pete screamed as he clenched on to me and wouldn't let go.

"Pete…Pete! Stop it, I can't breathe!" I yelled as he smiled and slid off my back, kissing my cheek on the way down. He turned around which gave me the opportunity to rub the saliva off on my shoulder.

"So where is the new guy?" Andy asked. Pete then jumped up and down and said, "Oh man, you're going to love this guy! He's a great little guy!'

"Ahem," we all turned to see a guy about a little taller than me by maybe an inch, "Pete, did you just refer to me as little?"

"Shit, elf man heard me!" Pete screamed and covered his mouth. The 'little' guy shook his head and looked up at me and said, "Anyways. I don't believe I properly introduced myself. My name is Patrick Stump."  
All the guys went down and sat on the couches as I stood quietly on the top of the stairs. I sighed and remembered that I had to speak up a little. I walked down the stairs and sat on the last step and watched the guys talk to each other. The whole time they talked, I had my head rested on my hand, feeling uninterested in whatever they were discussing.

But somehow, I looked up after hearing the mention of my name. I saw that all four guys were staring at me. "What?" I asked. They all shrugged and got back to their conversation except Patrick who continued to stare at me intently. I looked down at the floor being shy and all but I would look up every once in a while to catch a glance of his smile as he carried on a conversation with Pete about a song or something. I decided to get up and attempt to join the conversation. So I went and sat across from Patrick and said, "Hi, my name is Nathalie Hurley." "Hi," he said sounding a little nervous, "so…you're Andy's sister?" You nodded but then said, "Well, sort of. I was adopted." His eyes seemed to widen at that and he said, "Oh, sorry…you just look a lot alike is all."

"It's okay, we get it all the time. So, how'd you meet Pete?" I asked out of curiosity. He looked up at the ceiling and said, "I don't really know. I just graduated a few months ago and I was working at a crappy automobile shop and I guess he came by and we just clicked from that moment on." I felt a smirk come across my lips as I said, "But you're not anything like him, are you?" He looks at the ground as if I had said something complicated. Then he said, "I have no idea. Him and me switch personalities all the time. It's really weird how that works. But, if you're referring to the man whore side of him then no, I'm not like him." A small little smile flickered in the side of my cheek as I continued to talk to him for a while before Pete stood up and said, "Okay! We gotta practice now! We are never together like this; this might as well be an occasion! Joe and Andy, do you remember the song that we couldn't do a month ago? Well, I taught Patrick how to sing it and we can work to perfect it now! Come on, I got it all set up in my parent's garage."

I sighed as I watched the boy's head for the garage. I decided to stay back and walked upstairs to scope around Pete's house. I walked upstairs and smiled as I realized Pete had two double beds in his room. I walked over to the second one and plopped down on it faster than I should have. It sprung me back up to my feet and left me with a sore tailbone. "Ow," I moaned as I walked over to his computer and flipped open his messenger. I looked over his choice of friends and realized most of them had good-looking model-like girls on them. This was pretty typical, so I clicked on the one girl who seemed normal and typed "Hey."

**sXeGirl says**: Hey

**PeteWentz says**: This is Nathalie.

**sXeGirl says**: Oh. I'm Meg. Where's Pete?

**PeteWentz says**: In the garage playing with his band. He doesn't know I'm up here…

**sXeGirl says**: lol, he can be pretty clueless sometimes

**PeteWentz says**: Ha, try living with him. He is so strange…have you met him?

**sXeGirl says**: Well…no, but I've been planning to for over 3 months. He just keeps forgetting to set things up. I feel like such a loser with this whole online dating…

**PeteWentz says**: Oh…you're dating him?

**sXeGirl says**: No…but I'd like to. But it sucks when I have absolutely no idea what happens there in Wilmette when I'm all the way in Milwaukee.

**PeteWentz says**: Milwaukee? That's where I'm from! Eek, Pete is going to hear from my foot though. He always tries leading people on like that…you know what? I'll talk to you later. I'm going to do what I do best…chewing people out. I'll make sure goes and meets you soon.

**sXeGirl says**: But, wait…

I clicked out of the messenger before she could say anything more and started to go down the stairs when I missed a step and did a face plant in the carpet and hit my head on the wall on the way down. I sat up a little and leaned against the wall and put my hands over my forehead and said, "Well, that was stupid of me…"

"Nathalie, are you okay?" I looked up and saw Patrick standing above me with his guitar still on behind his back. He bent down and said, "Wow, that looks like you bumped it pretty hard. I heard you scream from downstairs so I came up to see what was up. Here, let me get some ice." He gets up and go into the kitchen and comes back with ice and place its on my forehead and grabs my hand and places it on the ice as he firmly pressed over it with his hand. "Ow!" I yelped as the ice led a straight shot of cold into my brain. Patrick looked alarmed so I explained, "Brain freeze." I saw a grin creep across his face as he let out one the cutest laughs I've ever heard. It made me smile a little so I tried to cover it up with my hair. But that made him think I was hiding the huge bruise that was forming on my forehead. "Oh, it's okay. We can put make-up over it. Your skin is so pale, the bruise looks ten times worse than what it probably is," he'd said making me feel a little embarrassed. "Why were you in such a hurry?" he asked, reminding me of how I'd planned on running to the garage and screaming at Pete. "Um, I wanted to talk to Pete about something," I mumbled under my breath. I looked up and saw the hurt "Oh," expression dripping across his face. There was a good minute of awkward silence so I decided to break it by attempting to stand up. I did so, which led him to standing up to. But I noticed something. Although Pete had called him short, he was still taller than me!

"Wow, you looked taller from a distance…" Patrick said making me feel small. I didn't say anything and instead just went towards the garage and stomped down the stairs and yelled, "Pete, you little slut!"

Every head turned and stared you down with confusion. I shook my head and walked towards him, while he was putting down his bass. "What did I do?" He cried while holding his hands in front of his head, afraid that I'd hit him. "You need to stop being such a man hoe and settle down for once! You're 24 years old! Act like it!" I yelled, feeling dumb that I felt like beating him up for no reason. I heard Patrick walking down and saying, "Wow. That's one high maintenance sister you got there, Andy." I sighed and said, "Stop putting off Meg. She likes you a lot and she might be good for you." Pete didn't say anything before he smiled flirtatiously and smacked a huge kiss on my lips. My eyes grew huge as I pushed him off and screamed, "You son of a bitch, what the fuck are you doing?"

"I love pissing you off! It takes little effort," he said with a smirk. I then screamed, "Oh god, I'm going to get herpes or something! Gross, I'm filled with nasty whore germs! I'm going to have to wash my mouth out with sandpaper!"

"Geez, it wasn't that bad. God, it was only a kiss between 'friends'. Loosen up," he said nonchalantly. I sighed in sadness and said, "It's only a bigger deal to me because that was my first kiss… I didn't want it from **you**!" The whole room gasped except for Andy, who already knew the truth. I suddenly felt contaminated with guilt because I really wanted my first kiss to be special. Pete must've realized his mistake though since he said seriously, "Oh, I'm really sorry Nathalie. I just figured you would have already had it by now since you're so pretty and that it would be okay to mess around. Sorry, I'll stop being a hoe now," and hugged me. I hugged back and said, "This doesn't mean I forgive you…"

"I know," he said with a big genuine smile. I smiled a little and started to laugh. Patrick had a cute kind of innocent smile on his face as he said, "Wow. You've never been kissed before that? I find that really hard to believe."

I felt my face grow red as I noticed that I sort of had just received a compliment. "Aw look, she's blushing!" Andy said quietly to Joe so Patrick wouldn't hear. He then winked at me and gave me a thumbs up, which led me to make a grossed out face (I don't know why, it just was a reaction). It killed me still to know that I would be staying here for 4 weeks. I suddenly became afraid. "So, did you guys perfect that song?" I asked out of curiosity and a need for a change of subject. Patrick smiled and looked over at Pete and smiled cheekily and said, "I'd say we sounded pretty good! Should we show the lady our song?"

I laughed at his referral to me as being a "lady". This was a nice step up from where I was used to being at. I'm the 'one of the guys' girl. It was so strange that here they'd actually consider me a girl. Hmmm.

"I say we shall, Patrick. Alright guys, let's set up!" Pete ordered as they all picked up their instruments. Patrick stood in front of the microphone and smiled nervously at me and said, "This song is called Grand Theft Autumn." The room became silent as Patrick started to sing accapella. "Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman. Maybe he won't find out what I know. You were the last good thing about this part of town." Then Joe started playing his guitar furiously as Patrick stomped to the beat of the song. Right before Patrick had to sing, he slid his hand across the brim of his hat and faced it towards the side. He opened his mouth and pressed his lips to the microphone.  
"When I wake up, I'm willing to take my chances on the hope  
you forget that you hate him more than you notice  
I wrote this for you  
you need him, I could be him,  
I could be an accident, but I'm still trying  
That's more than I can say for him.

Where is your boy tonight?  
I hope he is a gentleman  
maybe he won't find out what I know,  
you were the last good thing about this part of town

Someday I'll appreciate in value  
get off my ass and call you, but for the meantime,  
I'll sport my brand new fashion of waking up with pants off at 4:00 in the afternoon

You need him, I could be him,  
I could be an accident, but I'm still trying  
That's more than I can say for him.

Where is your boy tonight?  
I hope he is a gentleman  
maybe he won't find out what I know,  
you were the last good thing about this part of town  
He won't find out. He won't find out."

I was in dead shock from how amazing Patrick's voice was. I mean, you can't really tell if someone can sing by their speaking voice. Wow. "Nat, are you crying?" asked Pete.  
"No! I'm not crying!" I said in defense while wiping the few tears I had left on my cheeks. Patrick then sadly asked, "Were we really that bad?" I shook my head ferociously and said, "No way, you were incredible! I can't believe you got that much done within the first practice together! Pat, you have a powerful vocal range!" Patrick smiled widely and said with a smirk, "Thanks, I try my hardest." I giggled at his joking manner and said, "It's great to know that the shitty band we used to know is basically completed."

"Oh man, I know!" yelled Joe in agreement before he did a heel click with his guitar still around his neck.

"Where are we staying tonight, Andy?" I asked after a while of discussion. He shrugged and said, "I'm not really sure. Do we stay here and party or go to a motel?" I looked at Patrick and smiled at him in a "Party animal" kind of way. He let out another one of his cute laughs and said, "I 'd love to party! My house is open to any visitors!"

"Sweet, I'm so staying at Pat's tonight!" called Andy as he stood up from his drum set.


	3. Video games and flashing cameras

The next thing I knew was that I was standing in Patrick's room, which was covered in tons of movie posters like Star Wars, Jaws, and…Moulin rouge…Okay, that was a little on the stranger side of things but I liked the movie too so it wouldn't be that weird. But later on during the nighttime, Andy, Patrick, Joe, Pete, and I were chilling in his room when Patrick suddenly asked, "Have you ever played "I never"?" "No. What is it?" I questioned. He then explained that it's when a bunch of people sit in a circle and take a turn of saying something they never did and if someone in the circle has done that, they have to take a drink. Sounds easy. It wasn't. Patrick then brings out a large bottle of Jack Daniels and pours us all a glass full. "Uh, I'm a light weight though…this could get pretty ugly," I said to Patrick when he got done pouring mine. He smiled awkwardly and sat down across from me. Andy smirked and said to Patrick, Pete, and Joe, "That means you have the right to take advantage of her when she passes out."

"What?" I said loudly, "You're not going to let them take advantage of me, are you?" He had a mischievous look on his face, then he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't let them do anything explicit…but that doesn't mean I won't let them have fun though."  
"Let's start!" Patrick said before I had the chance to freak out. He held his glass up and said, "I've never had a girlfriend that didn't last more than a month!" Pete took a drink. Andy than laughed and said, "Pete, you loser!"  
Then it was Pete's turn. He smiled widely and said, "I never lived in Milwaukee!" I sighed and took a drink. Wow, it was really strong. Eek, it was now Joe's turn. He looked over at me and proudly said, "I've never fallen down the stairs!" Crap, I suck at this game. I took another drink and saw Pete do the same, seeing as he knew his stairs were too steep. It was Andy's turn now. He exhaled and said, "I've never had experimentation with my sexuality!"

Pete looks around and notices that everyone is staring at him. Then he sighs and take a drink and mumbles, "You guys suck…" Woohoo! My turn! I smiled and said, "I never caught myself looking at the other people changing in the locker rooms during high school." Every guy takes a drink. I shake my head and say, "Naughty boys! Don't you know curiosity killed the cat?" They all moaned as we continued to play until one of us passed out. Ironically, it wasn't me. It turned out to be Andy and Pete. Ha. But I admit that I was pretty wasted.

My vision had become so messed up that when I tried to stand up, I merely stumbled out of the door. Patrick and Joe both followed me to make sure I wasn't going to fall down any stairs. Later after everyone had gone to sleep and/or passed out, I stayed awake sitting on Patrick's spare bed. I was watching Patrick sleep because I had been so drunk that I basically was having a one-night infatuation, or at least, that's what I thought it was.  
I found myself moving closer towards him until I was so close to his face that I could feel him breathing against my cheek. I then started to mumble his name under my breath until he moved off of his side and laid flat with his head towards the ceiling. This made it easier so I could simply lie on top of him and listen to his heartbeat. I had become so comfortable on him that I had slowly gotten closer to sleeping…and that's when I felt his arms around the small of my back, holding me close. It was just like a dream…then I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep.

I woke up the next morning snuggled closely to a pillow that had rainbows and little pink bunnies on it. I poked my head out from under the covers and saw that the room was empty. "Was last night a dream?" I wondered aloud as I scooted to the side of the bed and placed my feet on the floor. I rubbed my head and tried to smooth out my hair as I got up and looked for any sign of life. That's when I heard a familiar voice. It was Patrick…and he was singing! It sounded like show tunes though…  
I stepped out into the hallway and walked towards the bathroom and screamed at the sight of Patrick, in a black tee and boxers, brushing his teeth. He paused from his singing and started to choke on toothpaste and spit after being startled by my intrusion to his private morning process. No longer wanting to stand there, I ran back to his room and threw myself on the bed and under the covers to hide my red cheeks. I then peeked out and saw him sit down on the bed and nervously say, "Hey."  
There was a few moments of silence that made me feel the need to say something "I'm sorry about how I acted last night…I really don't know you and it was wrong of me to pull stunts like that. I don't want to make it weird for anyone, especially for me and you," I said seriously.

"Don't apologize to me, it's nothing really. Besides, we were all too drunk to know what was going on," he said with a laugh. A smile perked in the side of my cheek as I stepped off the bed and said, "Well, I'm going to go downstairs but before I do, I must say something important," then I looked down at Patrick, and slapped him on the arm and said, "Put some clothes on, mister!" "Yes maam!" he said while saluting me. Then he got up and hopped towards his closet and then turned around and gave me a funny look. Then it came to me that he wanted me to get out so he can have his privacy. I laughed which made him smile and then walked out and ended up in the downstairs living room sitting between Andy and Joe, who were in the middle of a huge battle in Halo 2.

"Oh come on, that was so cheap!" cried Andy in loss after about 3 rounds of losing. I then asked, "Can I play?" Their eyes widened and the room grew silent. I frowned and asked, "What?"

"A girl who likes video games?" Joe asked before surprising Andy with a very interesting comment, "Andy, I'm marrying your sister." Andy then yelled, "Dude, that'd mean we'd be like related! Disgusting!" before punching Joe on the arm. Now remember that I'm sitting in the middle of the two, meaning I have to duck so I don't get beat on the head.

"Hey, knock it off! Which one of you pussies want to go head to head with me?" I said, breaking the two up. Joe then said, "That's some naughty language you've got there. Andrew! Look what you've done!" "I didn't do anything!" Andy yelled in reply and the next thing I knew was the two had taken their shirts off and were on the floor wrestling. I rolled my eyes and said, "Immature boys…" I picked up the controller and yelled, "Who has the guts to try and beat me?"

"I do," said a voice from behind me, which made me look up and into the eyes of Patrick, which startled me a bit, I must say. "Oh, okay then," I said looking down at the controller as he jumps over the back of the couch to sit next to me, but ends up on the floor.

"Wow, that was some great coordination for a musician," I say with a laugh due to the look of his blushing face as he sat on the couch. "Alright, lets get it on!" was all he said before we virtually dueled out for the title of Halo champion. Nearly a half hour later of competitive remarks and serious hand eye coordination, the battle finally came to an end. "Oh my god!" he screamed as he stood up and did a victory dance. Andy jumps up from the floor, where he'd been watching the fight thoroughly, and yelled "Little sister, shield your eyes!" He then came towards me as if he was going to tackle me, but stopped right as I covered my eyes. I peeked through my fingers and saw Patrick smiling with his foot sticking out and Andy on the floor with his face in the carpet. My mouth fell open as I said, "That's mean! Why'd you trip him?" He looked down shyly and said, "He was making fun of my leprechaun dance…" I started to laugh really hard as he smiled casually and pushed his glasses up the rim of his nose.

"I want chocolate milk all of a sudden…" I randomly said as Andy jumped up and screamed, "Oh my gosh! We have to get some!" Then at the same time, we both gave a long stare at Patrick, who awkwardly said, "Guys…? Oh my god, what are you doing?" as we lifted him up and led him to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator revealing no milk or chocolate syrup.

"I demand that you go and buy some!" said Andy. Patrick looked at him like he was crazy and said, "and what makes you think I have money?"

"All my hope just died. I hope you're happy," I said pretending to be angry. Of course, I was just messing around. I decided to change the subject. "So when are you guys going to start having more shows in front of people?" I asked. Andy shrugged and Patrick stared at the ceiling and said, "I really don't know. I'm not really sure if I'm over the performance anxiety thing yet. I've never been the singer in a band before. I mean, I used to be a drummer. Why am I the lead singer now? I've never had voice lessons or anything."

"Really? I cannot imagine that. Your voice is amazing, Patrick," I said out of honesty. He winced, obviously because he wasn't used to compliments, and said, " Do you really mean that? I mean, I heard it from a lot of people but I still find it incredibly hard to believe."

"Yeah I understand what you mean. Um…if you ever get famous, I'd get to be the band photographer right?" I joked around, not expecting him to take anything serious by the remark. Patrick obviously didn't see the joke side of it.  
"Oh wow! Yeah, that'd be so cool! So you take pictures, huh? That's really cool. So what are you planning on doing with this hobby of yours? Do you use models or take pictures of landscapes and stuff?" He asked, suddenly enthused by the topic of the conversation.

"Well, I do a little of both. I'm really into conceptual photography because it really deepens the artistic anxiety for the message underneath it all. I mean, you take a simple object or movement and portray it so it has a whole other meaning. It's so…" I trailed off when I noticed Andy staring at me dumbly as if he had no idea what I was talking about. I then looked at Patrick, who was shockingly still listening. I then sighed and said, "Sorry, I'm such a nerd when it comes to my camera…" His eyes widened as he said, "Oh no, I like to hear you talk about the things you love. I mean, if I talked about the things I loved, I'd be afraid you'd be bored to death. It's great that you'll talk about stuff like that." He smiled in a sweet way that made my heart beat faster (corny, I know but it seriously did). We made eye contact for a few seconds while saying nothing, but unfortunately the silence was broken by Andy standing between us and saying, "Well, I hope I'm not **INTERUPTING** anything but I'd prefer if you don't stare at each other because it's honestly creeping the hell out of me!" I sighed and said, "So, what are we going to do other than hang out at Patrick's house? I personally would like to go on a walk. Do you know any parks around here, Patrick?"

"Yes, I do know this awesome one by the river! The leaves are changing color too so it should make for some pretty pictures," said Patrick. I smiled and said, "Don't forget a scarf! It's a little chilly outside." He grinned and ran upstairs and came down wearing a black and gray striped scarf with a black jacket and Jack Skellington gloves. He flung off his glasses and tossed them towards the table and noticed my questionable look. "I don't want to look any more nerdy than I already do," he said with giddy laugh. I then looked over and saw Andy standing there blankly staring at the door. "Andy, aren't you coming too?" I asked, hoping it'd make him come back to life. It didn't. He shook his head and said, "Wow, I just got a really bad urge to play Halo 2. You two go ahead and have a nice time. Come back fully dressed is all I ask." My jaw dropped at his statement and said, "That's not very nice…pervert." Patrick just laughed, because he hadn't seen Andy wink at me, and walked towards the door, where we walked out and paced a few blocks before I realized that I was really cold. I started to rub my arms to try to keep warm.

"Nathalie, aren't you cold? Here, take my jacket, I'm plenty warm enough," he said while taking off his jacket and handing it to me before I could reject his offer. I giggled after realizing how baggy it was on me.

"Silly girl, how could you not bring something warmer? It's Wilmette weather, come on!" he said with a smirk. I punched his on the arm and rolled my eyes. When we reached the park, I gasped at how beautiful the park was. It was covered with orange and yellow trees that left a remarkable reflection on the glorious river that flowed through. On the top of the hill was an old tire swing that swung in circles every time the wind picked up. All I knew was that I wanted to be up there. I grabbed Patrick's arm and started running up the hill. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was though, because I'd only made it halfway up before I was gasping for air. But after a few rest stops, I made it up there and practically dove at the swing that simply screamed for a photo. "Patrick, go and sit on that swing, okay?" I told him as I ran a little way and picked up my camera. "Wait, you're not going to take a picture of me, are you?" he asked, suddenly cautious. I made a face and said, "Don't mind me, just be yourself. You really do make the perfect portrait." He awkwardly positioned himself on the swing and rocked it a little to make for a better image. He made a relaxed smile as he looked down at me. I took a snapshot of him, and turned my back to see how it looked, when I heard him scream.

"Nathalie, help! Help me!" he cried, as I covered my eyes with my hands, since the sun made it so I couldn't see what happened. I ran towards the swing and saw his legs dangling up and over the tire, and the rest of his body stuck inside of it.

"You klutz!" I laughed and grabbed his hand to help him out. "This wasn't my fault! The wind did it to me! I swear it came out of nowhere!" he yelled at me as the wind became stronger and made it so I couldn't hear him anymore. Dark clouds rolled into the sky as I realized it was starting to rain. Such random weather they had out here. I grabbed Patrick's hand and started to run down the hill, when it started pouring water and it was hard to see anything. The river at the bottom of the hill was making huge waves due to the excess amount of wind that had risen. We ran home, soaked from the rain, and stood on Patrick's front porch shivering.

"Oh god, Patrick, you're going to get sick now!" I said concerned. He shook his head and said, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." But he still shivered ferociously. So I embraced him and tried to keep him warm, seeing as the guys at home thought it'd be funny to lock us out. Assholes. "Thank you," he whispered in my ear.


	4. Bonding and saying Goodbye

We stood outside for about a half hour before they let us in, but by then, we were chilled to the bone. I had instantly run to the bathroom and grabbed some of my clothes and changed into something dry. When I walked out into the living room, I saw Andy on the floor poking at the couch. I grew closer and realized that on the couch was a lump underneath my blanket.

"Well, I wonder who that could be," I pretended to wonder as I hopped over the couch and grabbed at Patrick's sides. A high-pitched giggly laugh escaped from him as he jerked hysterically and fell onto the floor. I then ripped off his hat and slid it on my head before releasing him and sitting on the couch with my legs crossed. "You're pretty evil, Nathalie. It's no wonder all the guys in Milwaukee coward in fear of you," Andy said with a smirk. Patrick sat on the floor rubbing his head and asked, "What do you mean by that?" then looked at me for an explanation.

"It's a long story…" I started but he simply answered by shrugging and saying, "I have a lot of time if you hadn't noticed…I like to listen!" I looked down at the floor and said, "Well, you know about how I've never dated anyone…for a very good reason may I add! It's not like guys didn't try to ask me out, there's just something different about how I feel about stuff like that then what other people have. You see, I don't have the ability to see someone in that kind of light. Besides, they only liked me because I was 'pretty'. They could never understand the real me."

"Did you ever give them a chance to get to know the real you? Or did you just put up a wall and wouldn't let anyone get close to you?" Patrick asked, suddenly making you feel guilty.

"It's the second one, I'm afraid. I had to break so many hearts, before the time I graduated. I guess I never really gave any of them a chance, but that's only because I nearly died because of one of them…" I said trailing off at the last part. I wasn't sure if I wanted Patrick to know about him…

"What happened?" he asked. I remained silent.

"Oh come on, Nathalie, you can tell Patrick about stalker boy! Even though I know it's hard for you to talk about it," crooned Andy, making me suddenly want to punch him for slipping the word about my secret stalker.

"Wow, you had a stalker? Now I'm really interested in hearing the rest of the story!" Patrick smiled at me, which of course made me break and continue the story. I sighed and explained, "His name was Dylan and he had an obsession with me from the day I started freshman year up until I became a senior. It had only been a little concern at first but it grew far more serious the summer after junior year. After many failed attempts at winning my heart, he finally came to extremes and had threatened me with a gun after I had rejected him in front of the whole school. The thought of his voice still gives me goosebumps to this day."

**_Flashback_**

b end f_"Why won't you even give me a chance?" he screamed at me while cold steel shook in his hands. I backed into a corner, having no idea what to do, and feeling completely at fault that it would get this seriously. "I-I-I'm sorry, Dy-" I started to say trying to hide my fear but was interrupted by him throwing a vase at the wall and yelling, "You stupid wench, do you think I want to fucking hear that you're sorry? Of course you're sorry, anyone would do the same if they had a 38-magnum revolver pointed at them. I want you to feel horrible, I want you to squirm a little until you feel nothing but remorse." By this time, I had been gasping for breath through my tears. But I couldn't take my eyes off the gun that he swung around like a toy. I was petrified with panic. But a thought rolled back into my head and it questioned me, "Is this how you want to die? Fearing for your life in the arms of a stalker who found a gun? Would he really shoot you?" Time to do something I'd regret. I stood up and screamed back at him, "Why do you think this is my fault? You're too selfish to even consider my emotions about all of this! Do you ever think about what it must be like to be followed home everyday and forced to carry a switchblade to school because you're scared of who might approach you? You're selfish and greedy for lust just like every other guy at our school and that is why I didn't choose you!" His angered look fell into a hurt and confused gaze. After several moments of silence, he spoke in a low tone under his breath, "I understand it now…I'm sorry Nathalie." He walked around the corner, where I thought he would go out the front door, but instead I heard a loud "Bang!" and screamed at the sight of him lying on the floor, his face covered in blood and broken flesh from his skull. I felt so nauseous that I went and threw up several times in the bathroom. I had been home alone this night because it was bingo night for my parents and Andy was out with friends. They had all come home to find me sobbing over Dylan's lifeless body. When I was asked what happened, I cried out, "It's all my fault! I should've been the one who died! He doesn't get the chance to really live…It's not fair!" _

"This was followed by years of therapy," I explained as I covered my eyes with my hand to keep out the image of Dylan's body lying on the floor of the kitchen of my house. My leg started shaking as the scent of his blood came back to me.

"Oh my fucking god. He killed himself over rejection…? You should write a book or something," Patrick said in a complete and utter serious tone.

"Are you okay, Nathalie? I hope I didn't provoke you to mentioning something that brought back your pain from the past. I really shouldn't be so nosey," he rambled on, obviously having no idea what to say to such a touchy subject. I felt slightly relieved after telling him something that I hadn't had the heart to talk about in years. I shook my head and said, "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine. But you should tell me more stories about your own life, since I'm rather interested in getting to know you better."

Andy stands between us again, this time making a revolted face and saying, "This is already getting old. Why don't you two just go spend time in a closet or something? Jeez, you guys."

"Hm, turn on some music and we'll see what happens next. Certain music makes me go crazy hyper. I can tell you're just anxious to getting this party started!" I said, ignoring what Andy said, to Patrick before standing on the couch and preparing for extreme dancing.

"You like 80s?" Patrick asked as he put a CD in the stereo.

"Yes!!! I love it!" I yelled as I started to jump up and down on the couch. He put it to a certain track, which I recognized as "Boom boom boom by the venga boys". He turned up the stereo and laughed as I made faces to the words of the song. I started party boy dancing towards Andy and then lunged onto his back. "Oh god, you're heavy! When'd you get so fat?" he yelled trying to insult me. I made a gay giggle and said, "Silly Andrew! 85 pounds is NOT fat!" His eyes widened and he asked, "you're not really 85 pounds are you?" I shook my head and said, "No way!" He laughed and put me down on the couch and said, "Good, because if you were that light, I'd have to force feed you noodles and lard!" I smiled widely as Joe came in wearing white plastic pants. "Joe, you brought your dancing clothes! I love you, duckman!" I squealed and hugged him from the side. He made a nervous smile and looked over at Patrick and Andy and mouthed, "What is she on?" Patrick laughed and made a gesture of lighting up. I happened to see this out of the corner of my eye and scream, "I am not on weed, I swear! I told you I get weird when I listen to certain music!" then I ripped his hat off my head and flung it at him.

"Hmmm," Patrick mumbled aloud as he changed the song to Queen "Princes of the Universe". I watched thoroughly as Patrick and Joe both started head banging and singing along to it while pretending to have a sword fight, in which Joe slices Patrick's arm off and then gets stabbed in the stomach. I smiled at how great Patrick was at singing along to Queen. It seemed like no matter what song he sang, he could pull it off easily. I bit my lip as I smiled at the dramatic fight scene that ended with Patrick resulting in a series of seizures.

"You guys are such losers," I laughed at him as they all got up and sat down normally on the couch. Andy sat in the middle, Joe sat on the right, and Patrick sat on the left. I smiled and said, "you would make the perfect picture if you had a fourth member here." They looked at me confused so I sighed and said, "I'll gladly fill in for that fourth member any day!" and ran towards them and plopped on all three of them. My head landed in Patrick's lap, which made me face to face with him, which slightly intimidated me. I tried smiling so it seemed harmless, but he stared right through me. Andy's hands then clapped in front of our faces as he yelled in a high voice, "Stop it, you two! What did I tell you about those creepy ass stare downs?" Patrick sighed and I sat up on the arm of the couch. I bit my lip and angrily glared at Andy with an evil "I'm going to slit your throat in your sleep" look. He made a scared expression and laughed as he elbowed Joe and said, "Awww look, she's mad at me now! You can't be pissed at me for stating the obvious! Patrick and Nathalie sitting in a tree!"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Joe chimed in as I threw my whole body at Andy in an attempt to strangle him. I failed and nearly crushed poor Patrick in the process, leaving my face severely red from embarrassment and the angry threat of revenge I lashed at Andy. I was pretty pissed off so I went outside for some alone time. I tried to think of how my life used to be when I was home in Chicago. But nothing was coming back to mind. But then one song popped in my head. Don't push love away by The Juliana Theory. Oh man, I thought as I tried to get the thought of Patrick out of my head. I was going to be leaving in 12 days and everything will be like they were before I came here…I hope.

**_Here's a thought, if you're willing to listen  
I only tell the truth of the feelings I'm given_**

**_Can you hear me now? Listen  
Whispers in the rain. Listen  
Don't push love away, you know you do. It's all we have_**

**_It's a chore holding onto a vision  
Don't leave her high and dry. She's the one you'll be missing_**

**_Can you hear me now? Listen  
Whispers in the rain, while you're awake  
Don't push love away, you know you do. It's all we have _**

**_I hate to think hesitation is a burden  
A bittersweet design for a lesson you're learning_**

**_Can you hear me now. Listen  
Whispers in the rain while you're awake  
Don't push love away, you know you do, it's all we have_**

**_She's crying. She's crying. She's crying. She's crying._**

**_Can you feel me now this time?  
Whispers in the rain, lying awake  
Don't push love away, you know you do. It's all you have_**

_**Can you hear me now listen  
whispers in the rain while your awake  
Don't push love away, you know you do. It's all we have  
Here's a thought, if you're willing to listen** _

I sat outside for a good hour and watched the sun go down from the back patio. I can't believe the day was so long, and we got absolutely nothing done whatsoever. I don't know why but I urged for progression, there just had to be more than this. I heard the slide door open and turned and saw Patrick walking up with a casual smile on his face as he said, "Mind if I join you?" I shook my head and said, "Not at all. In fact, I sort of need the company. It was getting pretty depressing out here watching the sun set all by myself." He nodded, "Yeah, there's nothing like a beautiful sunset in Wilmette, Illinois…want to hear something corny? I hear that the sun sets here are way more bigger than the rest!" I made a face and said, "Was that supposed to be a pick-up line?"

"I don't know. You tell me," he said while raising one eyebrow. This made me feel weird so I said, "Whoa, slow down there, tiger! We're moving way too fast for this all to work! Okay, so obviously we got something going on here, but I don't think I know you as well as I'd like to. So let's make this simple; give me your best impersonation."

Wow, did I really just say that? Andy's outspokenness must be wearing off on me… Patrick laughed a little before looking over the frames of his glasses and giving me a shy look. Then he stared for a few seconds before dumbly looking up and saying, "Can't think of any at the moment…strange. I'm awesome at these so why can't I remember any?" He sighed and said in a prestige and intelligent manner, "Maybe we can just go inside and start it old school. Would you like to have a drink with me?" I laughed and gave him a funny look, which led him on to saying, "I promise I won't get you drunk this time." "Fine, I'll do it _your_ way then. Sweep me off my feet, sir Patrick "hellacious vocals" Stump," I laughed and walked up to him and locked my arm with his as he led me inside. We went inside and he opened this cabinet that was literally packed with nearly every alcoholic beverage that stood out from your usual description of getting a drink. He picked one that was smaller and had less alcohol in it and pulled out two wine glasses and handed one to me. As he poured my glass, I thought really hard about something I could ask him. The quietness was killing me. I saw Patrick try to sneak a yawn in but it wasn't very secretive since a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Boys don't cry," I said and reached over and caught the tear on the tip of my finger before it hit the floor. "Ha, what's that from? I think I remember it from somewhere," he said with a charm. I grinned and said, "The Cure. They're one of my favorite bands. I find myself quoting them all the time. I'm such a nerd." He nodded and said, "Don't worry about it though, because I do that all the time for movies and stuff. Except I quote weird movies from the 80s like The Lost Boys or The Breakfast club."

"Oh my god! I loved The Breakfast Club! I remember the whole time I was in high school; I wished something like that would happen to me. It never did but I can still dream can't I?" I laughed as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Speaking of education, what do you plan on doing now that you've graduated?" he asked instinctively. "Um, I am thinking of going to school in Chicago for advanced photography since I've already taken every advanced class that Milwaukee has to offer. Besides, I'm already losing memory of my basic math skills so I need to take personal finance as well," I explained. He nodded and then said, "That'd be a hard schedule to break especially if we ever become famous. We probably wouldn't be able to take you along with us on tours and stuff. " My stomach dropped. I hadn't thought of that…

"I'd still keep in touch with Andy though…I guess. That really is a flaw to my plan now, isn't it? Damn, and here I thought I'd be able to stalk your band with ease." I said, trying to make some humor to the conversation. It was quiet and I was starting to think it was hopeless to keep the conversation going, but the Patrick said, "I'm sorry that Pete had to be your first kiss. Unfortunately, I only met him a few weeks ago, and he frenched me at a Borders. I nearly cried. You should've freaked out at him more, that would've been hilarious."

"Yeah, I don't understand why he has to make himself so out there but I bet it will get him somewhere someday," I sympathized.

"Yeah, even though I'm the singer of the band, I can already tell that it's his charm that's going to win people over in the end," he said somewhat unenthusiastic. I rolled my eyes and said, "That's typical. Whatever though, you're freaking awesome and full of talent and that should basically qualify you as being the biggest deal of the band. Oh, by the way, what is the name of your band?"

"We don't have one yet," he said under his breath.

"Well, for your next show, ask the crowd for an idea. Then go with the third name you hear," I suggested. He nodded and gave me a smirk then said; "I'll remember that for future reference."

It had been five days and I've become really close to Patrick, Pete (shockingly), and Joe. We had spent the last few days getting kicked out of shopping malls, lighting fireworks, and making home videos. I had 7 days left and I didn't want to spend them sitting at Pete's house doing nothing all day. I had definitely grown a bond with Patrick and I knew that it would be really hard when I had to leave. And for some reason, I didn't think Andy would be coming back with me. They were talking about making a record with this record label called Fueled by Ramen or something. I wish things wouldn't be so complicated. But I noticed that after they decided to make a record, Patrick started avoiding me. He couldn't look me in the eye anymore and he kept making excuses no why he had to leave so much. I think I knew why…but I had to ask him myself. So I approached him 2 days before I had to leave and asked him why he was avoiding me when I'd be leaving so soon. He sighed and then looked me in the eye and said, "I really like you…but you're leaving so there's no point in even trying to work this out. You've got college to look forward to and I have a tour. I don't know if I want to try anymore." I felt my breath shorten for a few seconds as I stood there in a slight form of shock. He was giving up on me. No, this couldn't happen.

"I know I'm leaving…but this is such a huge deal to me though. I want to mean something to you after this. And it's because of the fact that I won't see you, that I'm willing to do this," I told him before I put my hands on his cheeks and kissed him with full force. He kissed back with half the effect, but appeared to be holding back. After I pulled away, his head fell to the ground as he trudged off without saying a word. He didn't talk to me at all for the next two days. I was getting ready to put my suitcase in the trunk of Andy's car as Pete walked outside to say goodbye. I gave him a hug and got inside the car and shut the door and leaned against it as Andy got ready to start the engine. I stared outside the window and felt a small tear roll down my cheek as I thought about how much I wanted to stay here.

"You going to be okay, Nathalie? I don't want you to cry over Patrick not showing up. I know he must be feeling pretty crappy right now and that he'll come around eventually," said Andy in an attempt to try to cheer you up.

"I can't wait for eventually, Andy. I've decided that I'm moving to Chicago in two months and I won't be able to talk to you as much as we're used to," I said in a low and angry tone, "and we'll get over all this. It's life, we move on. I'm going back home." Andy sighed and started to drive a little bit, before I saw Patrick running in the rearview mirror. I knew that it'd be useless to make Andy pull over, so I grabbed my notebook and wrote "Don't let me hold you back from loving someone else, you'll be with me forever in my dreams." and threw the whole notebook out the window. It had been filled with songs that Pete and me had written together whenever Patrick wasn't around. I felt bad for leaving so sudden and not bothering to pull over, but I didn't want to lead him on any more than I already had.


	5. College

**_3 years later:::_**

"These are beautiful pictures, Nathalie. When were they taken?" my roommate Shaquell asked me as she took the finished pictures off the wire and looked at them through the red light.

"They were taken 3 years ago," I answered dimly, not willing to explain the events that occurred so long ago. She continued to ask questions.

"Who's the guy in this one? He's kind of cute!" she screamed when she saw one of the pictures of Patrick on the swing. I didn't say anything which made her squeal and say, "Well whoever he was, he must've meant a lot to you if he let you take this one!" I turned my head to look at it, expecting a picture of Patrick, but instead there was a nude picture of Pete. I screamed, "Oh my god! Gross! How the hell did that get on there? Fucking Pete!" Shaquell laughed and said, "I have no idea why you didn't develop these pictures before. They're incredible and the boys in them are so adorable!" I rolled my eyes and turned my back and pulled another photo out of the developing fluid and hung it up.

"Who are they?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I said stubbornly.

"Aww come on, at least tell me who the nakey one is!"

"His name is Pete. He's a friend of mine and Andy's." I answered regretfully. I stood up and turned the red light off and walked out of the room and into my dorm, which was wonderfully split in half with mine and Shaquell's sides of the room. Mine being neat and normal looking and hers being messy and rather girly. I sat on my bed and laid my head on my pillow and attempted to block everyone out. But that failed when Shaquell came in saying, "I don't understand why you're so locked up about it, I just want to know what happened that makes you not tell me. I'm your friend, Nathalie. I want you to open up to me a little."

"Patrick is a guy I sort of had a thing with. It was nothing really but I haven't talked to him in a long time so it doesn't matter. He went on tour and became famous and I go to stupid college," I explained with a raging attitude.  
"Oh…is he in your brothers band? What was their name again? Fall out boy or whatever?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's their singer and guitarist…" I said in a mumbling tone. It was hard to believe that I still hurt over it today, but I really wasn't in the mood to talk about it.

"If he's in your brother's band, then why don't you keep in contact with him anymore?" This question annoyed me really badly. I got up and yelled, "Because I don't want to talk to him! I don't want to be involved with him anymore! It makes everything too damn complicated! Now leave me alone about it!" She made an "Eep!" sound and stopped being nosey. In aggravation, I went outside of my dorm and went downstairs to the main office to pick up my mail. There were a few bills and a flat box. I opened the flat box and found a CD. "Take this to your Grave. Fall out boy," I read aloud. I opened the CD case and found a tiny note inside that said; "_Go to Homesick at Space camp. We (as in Patrick and I) wrote that for you, sweetheart. Love,_ _Pete._" I sighed and threw the CD onto my desk and said, "I'll listen to it later…" and then asked Shaquell if she wanted to go to the mall with me. She said yes, and I picked up my purse, and already started out the door when she picked up the CD I threw and asked, "Aren't you going to listen to it?"

"I wasn't planning on listening to it yet…" I trailed off. She shrugged and placed it in her bag anyways and walked with me to my car. Shaquell put the CD in and I sighed as I started the car up. She switched it to track 5 and I spaced out as soon as the vocals started.

"Awww, Pete and the rest of the band miss you! This is a really good song by the way. I think I'm going to like this band," Shaquell said with a smile. She then flipped through the tracks and went to number 7; Chicago is so two years ago. I felt a small little grin trying to sneak its way out of the corner of my mouth as I accidentally ran through a stop sign.

"It's illegal to not stop at a stop sign, you could've just been sideswiped by a single mother who drives an SUV. I could've been killed!" Shaquell said with a laugh.

"You're paranoid. Besides, no one saw it so it technically never happened," I said, trying to confuse her. She had a blank stare out the window before she piped up and said, "Wait a minute! I saw it!" I smacked my hand over my head in reply to her slow mindedness and shook my head as I pulled into the parking lot. As we got out and walked across the large parking lot, I started to hum a familiar tune. Shaquell smirked and said, "Are you humming the Beatles? You dork, haha."

"Would you rather me sing it at the top of my lungs?" I asked and started to sing really loudly and purposely bad to make her self-conscious.

"But when I get home to YOU, I find the things that you DO, they make feel alright!" I screeched and laughed as she made several gestures at me to stop. By the time we got to the door, we had already turned a bunch of heads as we pressed the buttons on the handicap doors. I started skipping towards a bench when I heard a familiar tune being blasted from one of the stores. It was In too deep by Sum 41. It was only shortly after that I stood on top on top of the bench, and started rocking out to the song with my hands in the air. Shaquell whipped her phone out so she could get this on video. As soon as the guitar solo came in the song, I did a handstand on the backs of the two back-to-back benches and stayed there for like 3 seconds before coming down on the opposite side. Shaquell stood there with her phone with a shocked look on her face as she screamed, "That was super kawaii! Oh my god! I didn't know you could do that, you're almost like a ninja!" I held my head and said, "I didn't know I could do that either…it had to be that energy drink you gave me earlier!" She gave me a high five as we walked towards the music store and saw a large poster that said, "Take this to your grave-out today!!!" "Wow, they're really well known here apparently," I said in a toneless voice. Just then, I received a text message on my phone that read; "Hey, isn't your birthday coming up?" It was from Pete. I texted back, "Yeah, why?" then received an answer from him saying, "It's a surprise." I then wrote back, "Tell me so I don't flip out over it. Wasn't the CD you sent enough of a gift?"

"Hell no. haha, ILY lil girl. I hope to see you REAL soon 3" was the last text he sent before I shut my phone and said, "That loser…" Shaquell looked at me and asked, "Who was that from?" "Pete. Do you want him? You can **_have_** him," I said as she laughed and yelled, "Woo! I'm going to teach that boy some manners then I'm going to take advantage of him!" I coughed and said, "It wouldn't be that hard to…"

"What?"

"Nothing, let's go home," I said and smiled as I walked away with her following me.


	6. An uncommon surprise that changed lives

It had been weeks and my birthday was only two days away. I was trying to not think of it by keeping myself busy with school. I was in the middle of typing up a report when my cell phone rang. I answered it.

"Hey Nathalie, it's Joe. I just called to wish you a happy early birthday from me and the rest of the band!"

"Why are you wishing me it now? What are you guys doing on my birthday? I thought you were coming home," I said slightly disappointed that plans had changed.

"Oh yeah, that's also the reason I called," he paused and said, "We have to catch a flight to Montreal that day, so we're really sorry that we're missing your birthday. Don't worry though, we're sending you a surprise."

I sighed and asked, "What are you sending me?"

"Something you'll thank us for later. But I have to go, so I'll talk to you later. Bye," he said and hung up abruptly, leaving me very suspicious.

"Whatever," I thought.

_**My birthday**_

"Nathalie, get up! Come on, I'm taking you out to lunch for your very special birthday!" Shaquell said while jumping on my bed.

"Since when did you become such a morning person?" I said in a muffled tone from underneath my pillow. I then felt Shaquell dragging me out of bed by my feet. As soon as my knees touched the floor I let go of my bed frame and stood up and walked towards the bathroom.

I started to strip my clothes off and step inside of the shower stall, when Shaquell knocked on the door and yelled, "Be ready in 20 minutes. We have a long day ahead of us!"

I sighed and turned on the water and screamed at the cold water hitting my bare skin. There goes my common sense down the drain. It's called turn the knob to the left, stupid!

The water started to warm up a little and I groaned at the idea of wandering all over town with Shaquell, the pickiest damn girl I've ever met. Well, maybe the reason I'm moody is because I'm just disappointed that I can' see the guys for my birthday…

"No, that can't be it," I said to myself as I washed my hair.

When I finally got out and was dressed and doing my makeup, I heard Shaquell making moaning noises from outside the door, then three seconds later I heard her say, "You better get out of there before I break this damn door down!" and trust me, I always took her word when it came to threats. I opened the door and let her use the mirror.

Later, she barrowed my car and 'chauffeured' me around town until we came to this fairly nice restaurant.

"Shaquell, why are we here? This place is expensive…" I asked skeptically. She smiled and said, "Well, I met this cute guy at the mall yesterday and he gave me 100 dollars and told me to bring you here!"

I stared at her blankly as if she was insane to listen to a complete stranger who somehow knew who I was…creepy.

We went inside and ordered and such when Shaquell looked at me from across the booth and asked me a serious question.

"What would do if you ever ran into Patrick again?" she asked with a stern tone. I looked down hesitantly and then looked up slightly thrown off and then answered, "I don't know what I'd do…I'd probably end up yelling at him. I'm not really sure why I would since it's all my fault for leaving but I guess I've bottled up so much frustration that I'd probably explode."

"Oh," she said and made an "oh shit" face that left me confused. But then I pushed the thought out of my mind and it wasn't brought up again after our food was placed down on the table.

"Yummy, this looks so good. Thanks for taking me here," I said nicely for once. I have been acting moody all week so I feel sort of bad for being such a bitch. I should just be happy since its my birthday and I'll be turning 21.

So, the drive back home was silent as I walked up the stairs to my dorm. I noticed that the door was opened a little so I turned to Shaquell and asked, "Did you leave the door open again?"

She shrugged and I walked in to see that my room was covered in decorations. No one was visible so I walked in and mumbled, "What the hell happened?"

Then I see someone crawl out from underneath my bed and scream, "Happy Birthday, little sister!"

My jaw dropped as I saw Andy standing there with a huge smile on his face as the other three boys of Fall Out Boy came out of their hiding places one by one.

"Oh my god," was all that slipped out of my mouth.

Joe and Pete both hugged me as I stood in utter shock.

"What the hell are you guys doing here? You said that you'd be on a plane to Montreal!" I screamed.

Pete kissed me on the cheek and said, "That was only so you wouldn't think we'd show up! But look, we're here and we loved you enough to buy you a present!"

"Shaquell, did you know about this?" I asked her. She nodded and said, "Pete was the guy I met at the mall."

I nodded and took it in. I looked up and saw Patrick silently standing back and watching the excitement from a distance.

"Patrick," I said his name suddenly, making everyone look at him. He looked up with a nervous face and I bit my lip and said, "I've missed you so much; Thanks for the song."

Then I went over and hugged him. He stood dead still and silent. Everyone in the room took this as a cue to get out so they all migrated into the hallway.

He must've been in deep thought because he then burst out saying, "Do you really think you can make up for leaving me without a single call for three years?"

My face went pale as I said under my breath, "I'm really sorry…"

But then he still continued to look angry and yelled, "You left me behind without any motivation to move on with. I locked myself in a room for weeks and you're trying to make up for all that? How selfish can you be?"

This pissed me off so I screamed, "Well, it's not like you wanted me to call you anyways! You're the one who told me you were giving up on me and that you didn't want to even try so I took that as you didn't want me around so I made my decision to go to Chicago and leave this all behind! What did you want me to do? Be the little groupie for your band and tag along with no ambition at all? I'm not that kind of girl, Patrick!"

He wrinkled his nose and bitterly said, "You could have told me at least! No one told me that you decided you were going to Chicago. I tried so hard to keep in contact and for what? A little notebook filled with songs? What were you thinking?"

I felt a tear go down my face as I turned my back to him and said, "I didn't want to care about you. I wanted to run away and start my life over in the place that I was born. I was looking for opportunity and this is where I found it. But I didn't know you well enough to want to tell you about what I look for in life! Why would you care?"

He sounded sad as he said, "Why wouldn't I care?"

"You tell me," I said, my back still turned.

I then felt two arms wrapped tightly around me as I felt a few more tears roll down my cheeks.

"You're still someone I care about," we both said in unison. I felt myself begin to smile like I hadn't in 3 years.


	7. The party

I felt his arms tighten their hold on me as he shyly said, "I always dreamed that I'd see you again but I never imagined that you'd be as beautiful as you are now."

He then swirled me around so that I was face to face to him. My legs grew shaky as I realized that there was no Andy to ruin this moment. His lips were so close to mine as I recalled memories of forcing my lips onto his not long ago. Then, our lips touched gently as I wrapped my arms around his neck. But then a thought occurred to me.

I pulled away slightly, leaving Patrick confused with his lips still puckered from befuddlement.

"Maybe we're taking this a little quick," I suggested while backing away. He gave me an "Are you serious?" look before laughing and saying, "Oh come on! It was just a 'happy birthday, I haven't seen you in 3 years' kiss to bring back some memories!"

His face was so priceless as he said that, making me burst into a fit of uncontrollable 'girly' laughter that rarely ever happened.

I felt pretty nervous since his taste still lingered in my mouth. I guess he noticed an awkward silence though because he said, "So, how much longer do you have to be in school until summer vacation?"

"On Friday, why do you ask?" I asked slightly curious for what he had in mind. He smiled and said, "I was hoping we could possibly consider you as our band photographer for our first Warped Tour this summer."

"Oh my god! Are you serious? Warped tour too? Oh wow!" I said as the adrenaline inside kicked in and led me to running and jumping on him and overwhelming him with a huge hug.

He was rather startled and surprised by Pete and Shaquell walking in on that exact moment. Shaquell screamed, "Oh my god! She's actually opening up to him!"

Then Pete turned and looked at her questionably and asked, "Why wouldn't she? They were really close a few summers ago…"

She then said, "But you don't understand. She told me that meeting him again could be disastrous and that they'd yell at each other a lot."

"Ha, they already let all their anger out for now. Let's just let them enjoy the great news," he said with a smile as he turned her around and put his arm around her as he led her back out to the hallway.

Patrick then released me onto the floor with red cheeks and said, "I'm glad you're excited about it. I don't think I'd want to go unless you were there too. I'd get all nervous in front of the huge crowds."

I made a face and said, "Why would me being there make a difference?"

He looked immediately towards the ground and said, "I don't know why but I find it really easy to sing when you're around."

"Aww, that makes me feel special."  
"You are," he said with a gesturing smile as he stared me in the eyes, bringing back that romantic aura that we had so long ago.

Unfortunately, the aura was shattered by an evil two-headed monster called Andy and Pete.

"Pattycakes, don't you know you're not supposed to flirt with the enemy!" Andy said and pointed at me very obvious on me being the enemy. Patrick looked amused and started to laugh a little. God, he had the best laugh I've ever heard.

I then walked out into the hallway and walked down the stairs. I head footsteps following me so I walked to the nearest public bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I wanted some alone time to think about stuff.

Right now I'm wondering if any of this is real…it doesn't feel like it is. Did I really kiss Patrick? It's just been forever since I saw any of them and they've all changed so much.  
I didn't mention anything to Pete, but I cannot believe how attractive he's gotten. His hair is getting longer and his smile is as radiant as ever.

And Andy changed a lot too. I barely recognized him. It's still shocking that he's single. He's my half brother but b damn /b he looked really great. He was growing up.

Then there was Joe, whose hair practically blew up during the three years and who was currently growing a full BEARD. It actually wasn't that bad…only when it's two inches away from your face in the middle of a hug.

And of course, last but not least, it was Patrick. Oh wow. I'm astonished with how much he changed in looks. His hair is like…long and his eyes were so blue and his face completely changed. He was so much skinnier than I remembered him as but man…I am hopeless. He just…completed my entire crap-filled life…and I like it?

I confuse myself so much when it comes to him. I still fear stronghold relationships.

I then heard knocking on the stall door.

"Hey I know you're in there, Nathalie." It was Shaquell.

"What do you want?" I asked sounding a little harsher than I intended.

"I want to talk to you about Patrick," she said seriously. I walked out of the stall and mumbled, "What about him?"

"Well, I just noticed something…I've only known you for a year and a half now and I've never seen you this happy. That sounds absurd but I've never really seen you like this. It's totally tripping me out because I feel like I never knew the real you," she spilled out in one breath. I just kind of smiled and said, "Do you want to know the whole story?"

"Yes."

"We're going to have to take this conversation somewhere else then," I said as some girls walked into the restroom. We walked backed up to my room and walked inside where Pete ran up and hugged Shaquell and said, "Hey Shaquell, I remember you from the mall! Thank you for helping us set this all up! I owe you!"

She gave one of her nervous giggles and said, "No problem, it was nothing."

Now that her and him were standing next to each other, I realized that they made the cutest match. I don't think I'd say that to them though…Pete is very unpredictable and the last thing I'd want is for her to get hurt.

"So you want the whole story?" I asked her as I sat on my bed.

"Yes, everything."

So I explained to her every tiny detail about the semi-romantic summer I spent with Patrick and the guys and how the ending was so bitter and sad.

"I understand it all now, so yay! I'm so happy for you!" she oozed as I sighed, remembering that they were all here with me too. I don't know why but inside I felt really happy and sad at the same time.

"Hey, we can't forget her present!" Joe remembered and whipped out a box from under the bed. He then handed it to me and I stared at it as everyone waited for me to open it. I then pulled the top of the box off and saw a brand new Sony cybershot camera.

I smiled widely and screamed, "Wow, I really needed one! Thank you guys so much! "

Andy smiled and said, "Your old one got all crappy and ghetto!" while pointing the duct tape over the battery and the masking tape holding the lens up.

Then Pete said, "Besides, you're going to need a new one if you're going to be our band photographer."

I shook my head and said, "I cannot believe this…it's all happening so fast," and turned away from them and said, "I feel like I'm meeting you all for the first time."

"Pssha, whatever," said Pete before breaking into a fit of giggling fits with Patrick. I smirked and asked, "What are you guys giggling about?"

Pete stood up straight and made a face and said, "Boy stuff."

"Tell me."

"No," he said stubbornly, "girls like you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, so I look like a girl now huh? Wow Pete, I thought you'd never notice," I said and rolled my eyes. I had no idea what I was getting at.

Then he decided to change the subject.

"Oh man, you're going to be the only girl on our bus! Try to watch your back because boys become hungry like the wolf when on the roads!" he rubbed in my face. So I decided to bite back.

"Not if I bring Shaquell. I mean, I won't go unless she goes to. She's my BEST friend!" I said with an exaggerating tone. It came off sound a little sarcastic though because Shaquell was staring at me like I was crazy.

"Well, I've got a few days before Friday…so I guess you guys should find someplace to stay," I said ignoring the awkward silence. They all looked at each other and then Andy said, "Well, we were hoping you'd let us stay here."

"What? Where would you guys sleep? There's not enough room in here for two girls and four guys!" I argued.

"I thought your dorm would be bigger than this," he said realizing how small it was.

I groaned and said, "Well, how about we find you guys a hotel?"

"And then we can party!" yelled Pete. I smiled and said, "Today I turned 21…which means I can legally buy booze!"

We all raised our fists in the air and cheered, except Shaquell who stood awkwardly and said, "But I'm straight edge…"

"Well, good for you, kid!" Pete said and slapped her on the back. She winced, being so small and brittle, and said, "I'm not a kid. I'm 20 years old."

"Oh. You're pretty cute for a young one," he said not looking at her, but at the ceiling.

She made a face and said, "Well how old are you?"

"24."

"That's not much older than me!" she complained.  
He just smiled and shook his head. "Well, you should come with us anyway. You don't have to drink anything if you don't want to." Patrick said to Shaquell. The politeness in his voice made my cheek start to twitch into a smile.

Later that night…

So, the five of us all went and bought a bunch of alcohol after finding a hotel for them before throwing a little, and I mean _tiny_, party in my dorm. There were 8 people in all and most of them were couples that cramped themselves in the bathroom.

Shaquell decided to leave because she felt uncomfortable with a bunch of drunken people. I couldn't blame her though. I was a depressing drunk. I always would say something that would set off my emotions and end up making me upset. That always freaked people out. However, this wasn't the case this time.

Patrick and Pete were laughing it up on the couch. I stood o n the other side of the room, wishing that I knew what they were talking about. Patrick looked so happy as he was chatting up a storm that sent people crowding around him.

I decided that I would ignore the scene and turn my back and drink some more. But when Patrick's calm voice came from behind, my stubbornness simply retreated.

"There's something I've wanted to tell you," he said. I nodded and said, "Okay. Tell me."

He hesitated and gestured that we should take this into the hallway. I followed him out there and he stared at the floor nervously. He then looked up, leaving me breathless with those large blue eyes of his staring at me confidently.

"I like you…I have always liked you from the start. When you kissed me that day 3 years ago, I wasn't sure how to respond and I was under the same impression that you had. Just another summer fling, right? I thought it'd just be done and gone. But that wasn't how I felt at all," he paused after a while to see how I was reacting before continuing, "You see, from the day you left, my life just seemed more frustrating. Every time I tried to write a song, all I could put in words was how much I missed your presence and how I just wanted to kiss your soft lips again. You're absolutely gorgeous in every way and you make me smile more than anyone else can. I guess where I'm going with this is that… I love you."

I stared blankly, my mouth speechless and in awestruck, oh and because I was drunk beyond comprehension.

He sighed and then nervously chuckled, "Now I just wish I would've stated this speech when you were sober…"

"I love you too," I said abruptly, not rethinking the situation to the fullest.

He smiled and covered his face with his hair and said, "Silly girl. You don't have any idea what you're saying."

Then he put his arm around me and walked me into my dorm as everybody was walking out and helped me into my bed and tucked me in, leaving my hopeless drunken corpse confused and smiling idiotically. He leaned down and kissed my forehead and said, "Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."


	8. The morning after

I woke up feeling extremely sick so I got up and walked into the bathroom and threw up in the sink. I then sunk to my knees and thought to myself, "What happened last night?"

I tried to remember details but the only image I had in my mind was of Patrick tucking me in…but I know something happened before that but it just wouldn't come back to my memory.

I held my head and stood up before grabbing a container of Tylenol and taking two. I looked in the mirror and nearly screamed at how bloodshot my eyes were. I rubbed them a little but they were still really red.

Then I decided to take a shower to relax myself a little before I started my day. It was Thursday so I'd have to start packing for Warped Tour before I left for class.

I can't believe I'd be going with them…I still have so much left to do before we leave.

After my shower, I started to put on my make-up. Starting with foundation, I thickly applied and re-applied multiple layers onto my skin. For some reason, I felt I needed to look good today.

I quickly put on my eyeliner and mascara so I wouldn't take up the bathroom. I walked out still in pajama shorts and a large shirt, when I noticed Patrick sitting down at my desk. He moved his hand off the desk and waved.

"What are you doing here?" I asked while escaping a yawn.

"I just came to check on you and see if you were alright," he said and smiled a huge smile at me. I pretended not to acknowledge it since I had no clue what happened last night and there was probably a reason he was smiling.

"You need to start locking your doors," he said.

I just shrugged and pressed the play button on my stereo and walked back into the bathroom to brush my hair.

Patrick sat awkwardly on my spinning chair as he tapped randomly on the floor with his feet.

I grabbed a suitcase and placed it on the bed and started putting my accessories in one by one. Patrick took one look at its large size and raised an eyebrow and said, "Do you really need that big of a suitcase?"

I gave him a dull look and asked, "How long is warped tour?"

"A few months or so," he answered. I rolled my eyes and said, "Then yes, I need this big of a suitcase. I have a lot of stuff."

"I see. So is there a reason you're so moody today?" he asked. I bit my lip and said, "It's because I have a bad hangover."

"Oh," he said and laughed nervously. He was acting really weird today. I walked into the bathroom and changed into a gray band tee and a pair of tight black skinny jeans. Then I walked out and grabbed my books and said, "I need to go to class."

"Can I walk you there?"

"Sure," I said as I motioned for him to follow me. I locked my door and started down the hall with Patrick on my side. I felt a little weird because I wasn't really sure if I wanted to be with Patrick anymore. Things are better if we remain just friends _for now_. Besides, I don't know what happened last night.

When we arrived at the classroom, I nodded at Patrick and said, "Thanks for checking up on me. I'll talk to you later, okay?" and gave him a quick hug and shuffled into class, leaving him alone and confused.

**_Patrick's point of view_**

"Patrick, where are you going?" Pete asked me as I was almost out the door of the lobby. I said, "I'm going to go see how Nathalie is doing."

Pete sighed and said, "Dude, she's not going to remember, you know that right?"

"Yeah…" I said. But inside, I really hoped that she would. So I wanted to visit her this morning and figure out if she does.

So I walked down the street and over to her dorm (which was conveniently located right next to the hotel) and walked up the stairs and went to her room. I was going to knock but I noticed the door was unlocked so I opened it and went in.

I sat down on a spinning chair and sat there for a few minutes. Then the bathroom door opened and Nathalie stood there with her hair wet in pajama shorts and a large tee shirt. I waved to her, not being able to say anything due to my speechlessness at her attire. I swear I felt my jaw drop…but I could be exaggerating.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice calm and tired without any agitation.

"I just came to check on you and see if you were alright," I explained while smiling, trying to read her thoughts. But instead, she turned away and didn't acknowledge my caring gesture. My anticipation kind of fell after that, but I was determined to figure her out.

"You need to start locking your doors," I said with a pinch of scolding in my voice. She simply shrugged me off and turned on her music to avoid further conversation. I found myself offended by this but calmed myself down by assuring myself that it's not my fault. I sighed and watched her brush her hair in her mirror.

Thoughts ran through my head as I tapped away on the floor and fidgeted with a pen. Did she know what I said last night? Is she angry with me over what I said? Perhaps she doesn't know and is just being grumpy. Now I kind of wish I never said anything to her…I kind of just want the relationship we had before where we could mess around and not feel awkward around each other…

She walked out and grabbed a large suitcase out of the corner. She made an agitated sigh and grabbed a bunch of accessories and started packing. After seeing all she'd laid out, I felt the urge to ask, "Do you really need that big of a suitcase?"

She gave me a blank look and asked, "How long is warped tour?"

I thought about it and said, "A few months or so…"

"Then yes, I'm going to need this big of a suitcase. I have a lot of stuff."

I felt a little uneasy with her reply so I simply responded, "I see. Is there a reason you're so moody today?"

"It's because I have a bad hangover," she said.

"Oh," I responded and laughed awkwardly, questions running through my head. She had to have remembered. She's treating me a lot differently than yesterday.

She walked into the bathroom again and walked out with a gray t-shirt and black skinnies. She put her shoes on and stood up and said, "I need to go to class."

She picked up her books and walked to the door and I asked, "Can I walk you there?"

"Sure," she said surprisingly and gestured to me to follow her. I did so and walked by her side down the hall and down the stairs. It was quiet on the way there until she reached the classroom and turned to me and said, "Thanks for checking up on me. I'll talk to you later, okay?" and hugged me for a second before shuffling into class.

I stood there staring at the floor, confused and slightly hurt. What going on in her mind? She is confusing the hell out of me. I think I liked her better when she wasn't hiding her emotions. She built a wall around her heart.

I think I'm giving up.

I turned around and started walking back to the hotel. I then saw Pete walking my direction. I really didn't want to be interrogated so I tried to avoid him.

He grabbed my shoulder and said, "Hey Patrick, how'd it go?"

"Ugh," was all I said as I started to walk again. He made a concerned face and asked, "Well, do you want me to talk to her?"

I shook my head and kept on walking leaving Pete confused and worried.


	9. The Promotion

**_Nathalie's point of view again_**

When I walked out of my class, I saw Pete standing behind the door, looking troubled. I smiled and said, "Hey Pete, what's up?"

"What'd you say to Patrick?" he asked angrily. I was startled by his tone and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

His face calmed as he explained, "Well, Patrick seemed really annoyed when I tried to talk to him earlier. You sure you didn't say anything that would set him off?"

I bit my lip and mumbled, "Well if treating him like just a friend is something that sets him off then yes."

"Oh," he said toneless. He sighed, shook his head and said, "What am I going to do with you two? You're both so stubborn and indecisive on what you want. This situation is going to make warped tour very interesting. Just be sure to talk to him before we leave so there's no tension on the bus. Trust me, you don't want to have any fights before tour because they will intensify because you are around each other for days. Well, don't let it bother you. I'll talk to you later, sweetheart. Say hi to Shaquell for me," before kissing me on the cheek and walking away.

I whispered under my breath, "I don't know what to do."

I walked solemnly to my dorm and packed the rest of my belongings that must come with me when I leave. I packed my camera, some old pictures of me and the band, lots of warm clothing, a few hoodies just in case, and a notebook for writing and drawing.  
After I finished packing, I fell onto my bed and sighed as stared at the ceiling.

Then I heard the door open and looked up to see Shaquell walk in with her books.

She put them on the desk and turned and said, "Hi! Why the sad face?"

"Patrick's mad at me because I'm stupid and indecisive," I explained. "Oh," she said and sat down on her bed, "I wish we can be happy like we used to be. We should go to the mall or something."

I smiled and said, "We should. I noticed that I've been really depressing lately. I want to be okay again but that's so hard when I can't make up my mind about Patrick. When we were friends, we could talk about anything with each other. Ever since we kissed, it's just not the same as before. We don't talk about anything anymore. I miss that."

"Then tell him that," she insisted. I made a whiny voice and said, "but I don't want to!"

"Too bad! You're telling him tomorrow morning," she said forcefully. I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why tomorrow morning?"

"Because, the band is having a huge meeting with their label tonight and won't be available until morning. Besides, you need to solve this mess before we're going to be locked away with them for a few months! God, wouldn't that just suck?"  
I sighed and nodded before saying, "So, I need to fix this yet I still don't have the slightest idea of what I want anymore. Can I just run in front of a semi truck now?"

"Don't say that. It's really up to you. Although, I think Patrick would do you some good. He seems really sincere. So what happened when we all left the room yesterday?"

I shook my head and said, "He still kisses the same way as before…I'm so stupid."

I looked up at Shaquell and saw a little smirk-like grin on her face and she giddily said,

"Oh, that's so cute! I don't know why, but that makes me feel giddy! I hope you two hook up soon! The way you guys linger is killing me!"

I smiled at her before growing a more serious look and saying tonelessly, "Have you ever felt like everyday of your life is the same thing over and over again? I've felt this way for a long time; it's as if I'm a lifeless soul walking the streets alone with no goal and no outlook of life to form. Then he appears in my life and suddenly I'm overwhelmed with emotions that feel so amazing…yet, I'm afraid to give into them. What does this mean?"

"Wow, that's a lot of big words," she paused and said, "but I do believe what you're feeling is _alot_ like love."

"Oh," I said blankly, "So this is what those songs mean when they say weird things like, "What did I say, what did you do? How did I fall in love with you?" It just sort of happens like in Backstreet boy songs?"

"Yeah, I guess… I wouldn't really know for sure. I don't think I've ever been in love before. Nobody back in Kansas City was worth all the tears. But I truly think you should follow your heart," she said. I smiled and said, "Wow, that whole bit of advice was possibly the smartest thing I've ever heard you say!"

"That's not nice!" she said while laughing, "So, what do we do now?"

"I think I'm just going to go with the flow and see what happens. But as of now, I'm not going to avoid Patrick anymore. Anyways, let's go to the mall now," I answered before we both left and went to the mall.

While there, Pete called my cell phone and asked me to do him a **'huge'** favor.

"Will you buy me some starbucks? This meeting is going to take way longer than I hoped and now I'm unprepared for hours worth of discussing stuff. So, do me a favor and get me a Caffé Mocha, please?"

I sighed and said, "Sure. Where is your meeting?"

"We're at the hotel business room. We'll let you in; just knock. Seeya in a bit then," he said and hung up.

So Shaquell and me bought his Starbucks and headed over to the hotel. Shaquell held his drink while I knocked on the door to the business room. Andy runs and opens the door and says, "I'm not supposed to let people in but you two are special and we need some help with something so," he grabs both our arms and drags us inside.

We both sat down at the end of the table and noticed the twenty-something people sitting around the table. Shaquell then slid the coffee over to Pete who was sitting on her left. He smiled and winked at her as her face grew red. I smiled and said, "So what'd you guys want?"

I then heard someone cough to clear their voice. It was Patrick.

"Well," he started, "this is our third time on warped and we wanted you to have a sponsor so you could be professionally paid for your photography. We talked to our label about it and pretty much; you're qualified for payment. You've got a new job."

I sat there in shock for 5 minutes before I screamed, "you're paying me? Why? You're kidding, right? I didn't think it would be a big deal. I thought I was just doing you guys a favor."

He shook his head and looked over at Pete and said, "No, you've gotten an official promotion from us. We're liable for your services."

"So, I'm going to be touring with you guys for more than a month?"

They all nodded.

"No more Chicago?"

They all shrugged and Pete said, "We'll come back once in a while. But from this point in time, we're going for the big time and we want you with us all the way. We don't want to lose touch again like before. This time around, we're practically going to own you."

I stood and screamed as if I had just ridden a roller coaster. I started hopping around and cheering, "I'm not going to be a loser amateur photographer anymore!"

Shaquell sat down still and was staring at the ground. I stopped jumping and ran over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You're going to leave me in Chicago. I can't go on tour with you guys forever. I have to stay here and finish college."

"Oh," I said, feeling as if I'd just been stabbed in the heart, "I didn't realize what I'd be leaving. Now I don't' want to go…"

Shaquell shook her head and said, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Go to warped tour and live the life you've dreamed that you'd have. You won't miss anything here."

I shook my head and said, "That's not true, I love living in Chicago! I love living at the dorm and sharing a room with you! **My heart will always remain in Chicago!**"

Pete stood up and walked over to Shaquell and patted her on the back and said, "You're coming with us on warped tour. I have a special task for you and we'll need your assistance as well. You're not being left out at all, okay? You're not losing your best friend to a bunch of guys in a band," and kissed her on the lips and whispered, "Feel better now?"

She nodded slowly as I smiled at the scene. Then I looked at Patrick and said, "I owe you my life," and ran up to him and gave him a huge hug that lasted several minutes of me saying 'thanks' as many ways I could.

"Patrick, you've been so gracious to me ever since I met you and I owe you my entire soul for how amazing you just made my life!" I oozed in the most meaningful tone I had. It was true. Earlier, he had made me feel awkward and insecure but now after this one thing he did, my life just lit up into flames.


	10. Jessica Eberlee

Note::: The two characters Jessica and Shaquell (their pictures and everything) are OWNED by me. We're real people. Don't steal our pictures, okay?  
The pictures for the stories are in my profile/bio.  
Do look at those and tell me what you think, okay?

* * *

The next thing I knew, we were on our way out of Chicago and to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was comfortably sitting cross-legged on the couch on the side of the bus. It wasn't luxurious or anything but it was still rather cozy. There weren't enough bunks for everyone so some of us had to squeeze in with someone, or sleep on the couch. Shaquell was uber skinny so it was easy for me to fit in with her. It had already been a day and a half.  
"Good morning, sunshine," I said with a smile as Patrick and Pete walked to the front of the bus rubbing their eyes. Pete stared at me blankly and walked straight to the 'kitchen' part of the bus and made himself some coffee. Patrick simply half-smiled before explaining, "He needs his coffee before he'll talk to anyone," and sat next to me and watched Andy play Legend of Zelda.  
We watched until we reached a truck stop about an hour into the game. Everyone except Patrick and I went to go get lunch. It was pretty quiet between the two of us. I decided to take this time and ask a question I've wanted to know.  
"So, what happened the night I got wasted?" I asked in an upbeat tone to hide my anxiety for the answer. He made a horrified expression as he granulated his thoughts and decided how he was going to answer.  
"Y-you don't remember?" he stuttered out. I shook my head and said, "Not a thing."  
"Oh," he mumbled before looking up at me directly through the eyes, startling me with his sudden seriousness.  
"I told you that I," he trailed off when he noticed people walk in and yelled, "don't like it when you drink so much!"  
I gave him a confused look and asked, "What?"  
He slapped his head hard and said, "It's nothing," and stood up and stomped to the back of the bus.  
Joe looked at me weird and asked, "What was that all about?"  
"I asked him what happened the night of my birthday," I explained with a curious tone. Joe bit his lip and gripped tightly onto his sandwich and said, "I'll be right back," and walked to find Patrick at the end of the bus. So, now I'm sitting alone in a room with Pete, Andy, and this girl I had seen on the bus but was never properly introduced to.  
Andy noticed my questioning look and said, "This is Jessica Eberlee. She's one of our roadies."  
The last name sounded so familiar but I couldn't recognize the face. She had fair skin and brown hair with lots of blonde highlights. It was short and flipped at the ends. She had light green eyes that were radiant and reminded me of my mom's eyes. 

"Hey, my name is Nathalie," I said to her with a smile. I noticed that Joe and Patrick weren't back at front yet.  
After several minutes of driving, they came back up and Patrick sat down and acted normal again. This confused me but I decided not to push for any more answers. I'll just ignore it.  
I heard a muffled sound and saw Shaquell roll out of her bunk. She groaned a little and stood up and sat down on the other couch with Andy and Jessica. This meant I was squished between Pete, Patrick, and Joe.  
"About time you woke up. Jeez, it's almost 3 o' clock. You're such a night crawler," I scolded with a stifled laugh.  
She smiled halfway and drank some of Pete's coffee. I turned and looked over at Jessica and said, "So, how long have you been a roadie?"  
She shrugged and said, "I think it's been a year now since I joined the roadie crew."  
"So, we're going to Minneapolis...we should try to go to the mall of America if we have any off-time," I suggested.  
"That'd be fun!" Andy emphasized the world 'fun'. Jessica laughed and for a second, I had a flashback of my mom trying to get me to say something on camera for her.  
**_Flashback_**  
"Come on, say something cute for me!" she enthused gently. I just blankly stared at the recording device in her hand. She pouted her lip and said, "But don't you want to be famous someday?"  
I shook my head furiously and, like the hot-tempered child I was, screamed, "Famous people are lazy!"  
My mom then paused the camera and started laughing in a way that made me feel calm and not so much under pressure. She really had that motherly figure that most people lacked.  
_**End flashback**  
_No lie. This was getting pretty creepy.

* * *

"Patrick, I'm not feeling too good. Will you go with me to back?" I asked him as I got up and walked towards the end of the hall with him following.  
"Is everything okay? You looked pretty mortified back there," he said concerned. I looked at the floor and clarified, "I just had a flashback of my childhood. I haven't had any recollection of my parents since I was 10 years old...I don't know why but Jessica gives me the strangest feeling. but I remember my mom telling my dad something about some guy with the last name Eberlee. I can't begin to embrace that without knowing some more truth about my past...but I'm scared to ask her something out of the blue like that. But do you think she could be related to me?"  
He nodded and asked, "Do you want me to ask her for you?"  
"Yes, but not so suddenly. Wait a little while, at least. I want to know her better," I mumbled.  
He nodded and footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway. He then grabbed me by the shoulders and whispered, "Quick! Someone's coming! Act casual!"  
He was really close to my face so I assume that he intended to kiss me. But apparently not, seeing as it threw him off guard a bit when I pressed my face to his but he ended up kissing back with twice as much intensity, leaving me nearly breathless. But I stopped kissing him and started giggling when I saw Joe standing in the doorway with a disgusted look on his face. Patrick didn't notice Joe and turned to see what I was looking at and started to blush furiously. Then he turned to me and shouted, "That's not what I meant by acting casual!"  
I just sat on the chair and snorted with laughter. I found this situation hilarious seeing as it was JOE who found us.  
"Wow, um Andy," he paused while snickering, "you're going to have to find that magazine of yours on your own because dude, you really don't want to come back here right now!"  
He walked down the hall and I looked at Patrick's flustered face and smiled. Then I punched his arm lightly and said, "You know you want to laugh. Come on, let it out for good times sake."  
He smiled and let out a light chuckle and started to walk towards the front of the bus. I did so as well and walked back to find that Joe had told everyone in the bus about walking in on Patrick and me.  
I sat down and said, "Don't make it seem like such a big deal. Be thankful it wasn't anything worse."  
I smirked and looked over at Jessica. She was being pretty quiet so I decided to talk to her.  
"So, do you like being a roadie?"  
She nodded and said, "I love music and I'm extremely grateful for this job. It has its pros and cons though. I am in charge of setting up the microphones before the show and picking them up if they're knocked over during the show. It sounds easy but you have to be quick and good with amplifiers."  
I smiled and asked, "What'd you do before this job?"  
She made a face and said, "I worked with my dad at a hotel in Chicago. My real mom died when I was 10 but she and my dad were divorced by the time I was two so I didn't really know her. I started working at 16 years old as a maid in this hotel down the street. By the time I reached 18, I moved out and lived in the attic of a music store with my friend who worked at the store. I didn't work there though so I was dead broke. I lived there until my 23rd birthday where I met Andy. Then he helped me out by dubbing me a roadie for his band. And here I am now!"  
"So, why didn't you get a job if you lived alone for 5 years?" I asked. She looked at the floor shyly and mumbled, "good question," and then looked up and said with a guessing tone in her voice, "lack of motivation?"  
I heard a funny sounding laugh come from Andy, which sort of threw me off guard. Then a smile crept its way across my face as the thought appeared in my head, "I bet he likes her!"  
Then I shook my head as I thought, "Wow, Andy likes girls? I don't think it ever occurred to me that my adopted brother could be interested in anyone. Well duh, I'm his SISTER!" 

After the little 'accident' in the back of the bus a few days ago, I had finally made my personal decision to tell Nathalie I love her. But I had a plan on how it would happen, as corny as it was, and now I just needed to take her somewhere special where we could be alone. She means the world to me...  
It's so soon, but I know what I feel is real and I need to get this out before it's too late and she get pulled away from me.

I looked up to find Andy and Jessica giggling about some inside joke of theirs. They've grown awfully close within the past year or so...Oh yeah, I have to ask her that thing for Nathalie.  
Nathalie was sleeping so now would be a perfect time to ask. It is about 3 in the morning right now and I have no idea why I'm still awake.  
"Jessica, there was something I needed to ask you," I said in the least suspicious voice I had. She smiled casually and said, "Okay, shoot."  
I swallowed and asked, "Do you look more like your mom or dad?"  
She made a face that questioned why you'd ask a random quedstion like that but she answered nonetheless.  
"I think I look like my dad, but everyone tells me I look like my mom. Why do you ask?" she tilted her head to the side in confusion.  
Andy jumped in and said, "That's awfully weird to ask out of the blue, Patrick. What do you have on your mind?"

In my mind, I had already pieced together the relationship between Nathalie and Jessica, although I never said anything directly to any of them about it. Now would be the time to determine if it's true.  
"Do you know if your mom got remarried after your dad and her got divorced?"  
Her mouth dropped and she answered, "No, I have no idea. What's with these questions?"  
My eyes fell to the corner of the floor and I answered, "I think there's a chance you might have a half-sister."

* * *

"_What?_" she nearly screamed. I was startled by the outburst but decided to explain my theory.  
"You see, if your mom got married after she got divorced and had a child with someone else a few months later, then that means you'd have a half-sibling. Judging if my theory is correct, that would mean Nathalie is your half-sister."  
Jessica bit her lip and looked at Andy and said, "But I thought she was your sister."  
"She was adopted after both her parents died. She was 8 when they died," Andy explained.  
"Oh my god," she trailed off before screaming, "I have a fucking half-sister and my bastard dad never told me!"  
She stood up and held her head and mumbled, "This is just too much to take in for one night..."  
She was wobbly from standing up so fast and she fell onto the couch and onto Andy's lap.  
"Dude, you killed her!" Andy whispered furiously.  
I rolled my eyes and said, "It's just from shock is all. It's not everyday you find out that you have a sibling you never knew about."  
We lifted her up and laid her on the couch before heading to the bathroom and grabbing a wet rag and placing it on her forehead while Andy sat on the floor by her side and made sure she was alright.  
I smiled and left them alone and walked to my bunk and went to sleep, trying not to wake anyone up.  
But one person was awake.  
"Thank you, Patrick," Nathalie's voice rang through my ears.  
I felt her grab my hands and slide them around her hips. My whole body went numb when her lips suddenly made their presence on mine. I closed my eyes as her warmth entered my mouth.  
I felt her mouth open as her tongue grazed my bottom lip. I let my lips fall apart and grant her access.  
She slowly led me, lips still locked, into my bunk where she shut the curtain and placed her hands on my cheeks and pulled apart and kissed my cheek before resting her head on my chest with her arms wrapped around me tight.  
All I knew was that I wasn't going to let her go. This was the girl I was in love with and for the time being, she was _mine_


	11. Sigh Soundcheck

**I'm not really happy with this chapter but it's sort of just fill in until I get to the part that's in my head. Thanks to the two people who have reviewed and/or added my story to their favorites. It's greatly appreciated. **

* * *

Andy laughed at my song by the time I finished playing and said, "Did you just make that up?"  
I nodded. Then Pete said, "I remembered that you were a good lyricist but I never thought you could come up with them so fast like that. I'm thinking you should help me out on the next album."  
"Sure," I said but asked, "What'd you do with my other lyrics?"  
"My heart is the B-side to my tongue," He answered. The name of the record didn't ring any bells in my mind so I asked, "Why didn't I heard about that one?"  
He laughed and said, "Because it's an acoustic album that was just released." 

"Oh," I mumbled as I walked back to the bus. The boys then left and the others were busy doing something important so it was just us girls walking back.  
When we got inside, I sat down on the counter of the kitchen as Jessica and Shaquell headed for the couch.  
I looked over at Jessica and said, "So, isn't it weird that we're related?"  
She looked up with a "I-Thought-You-Didn't-Know" look. I smiled and said, "Yeah, I know about it. So, are you in shock? I still am...I never knew my mom was married before she met my dad. You look so much like her too. It's just tripping me out a little."  
She nodded and said, "It's a small world. I mean, what are the odds we'd run into each other like this?"  
I shrugged and said, "I don't know. We just got pretty lucky, I guess," while reaching for my new camera. It was almost 9:30. They start letting people in at 10 and Fall Out Boy would play at 11:30. I should probably get myself a little warmed up before the real event.  
"So, where are you going?" asked Jessica.  
"I'm just going to walk around and see what all the other bands are up to at this hour. Besides, I want to take a few warm-up shots before the performance shots."  
"Can I come with?"  
"Yeah," I answered, shocked that she'd want to come with me in muggy weather. It was still early and it was already 84 degrees outside.  
I was about to leave when I turned around and asked, "Shaquell, you comi-" but stopped in mid sentence when I realized she was already fast asleep in her bed.  
So me and Jess started walking around to find that everyone was busy preparing for the opening shows.  
Warped tour was a huge event and therefore had hundreds of merch/food stands along the way to the stages. There was a large skateboarding ramp where some skaters were practicing their combos. I decided that this would be a good spot for the pictures. The camera that hung around my neck was now gracefully wrapped around my fingers as I took a few seconds to let the lens focus a little bit. This would be the first time using my new camera and I wanted to make sure I knew how to use it.  
Jessica stood behind me and watched as I took 5 individual pictures.  
But then a high-pitched voice startled me from behind.  
"Do you have a permit for that?"  
I bit my lip as thoughts raced through my head of how I'd get out of this one.  
But as I turned around I realized the person who stood there was...


	12. With new tours come new challenges

I know Kenny Vasoli didn't have brown hair until Based on A True Story came out but I like him better this way, no questions asked. Mkay?

* * *

But as I turned around I realized the person who stood there was...someone I was not familiar with at the time. He seemed like the pranking type.  
"Hi, my name is Kenny. Sorry for startling you, it's just that you were so focused...I couldn't help myself," he said and stuck his hand out. I glanced over at Jess, who had an eyebrow raised at the random act he just pulled. Then, I grabbed his hand and lightly shook it and gave him a questioning look before saying, "I'm Nathalie. This is my half-sister Jessica..." I point to Jess who still looked skeptical of this stranger. He noticed our weird stares and said, "Oh, I'm in a band. I'm the singer in The Starting Line. I swear I'm not trying to hit on you! What band are you with?" while pointing at our nametags. Stupid nametags give away everything. They said our job and our full names.  
"Fall Out Boy," I answered. His smile perked up and he exclaimed, "Wow, really? We play right before them!"  
It seemed like this boy had a permanent grin glued to his face. He sure smiled a lot and he was pretty cute with his blue eyes and long brown hair.  
"So, what are you doing until the show?" he asked. I shrugged and said, "I don't know. We're kind of bored so we decided to go on this walk. What are you doing?"  
"Well, you see, that's kind of why I'm here. There's nothing to do in a bus full of dudes," he answered with a little giggle at the end.  
"Well, you can come to our bus for a little while until we have to go to the show. Maybe, I can take some pictures of your band too," I suggested politely. He hopped up and down and excitedly asked, "Should I get the rest of the band and meet at your bus?"  
I nodded and we started heading towards the bus. After a few minutes of being inside, we heard a loud knock on the door and Jess ran to open it. She let them in and they all took a seat on the couches in the front lounge. There were four of them including Kenny.  
Kenny grinned and said, "Your bus is way nicer than ours," before introducing his band mates.  
"This is Matt, Mike, and Tom," he said while pointing to each one. I nodded and said, "Nice to meet you guys. So what do you do for fun?"  
They looked at each other and smirked as Kenny said, "We like to run around warped tour with our shirts off and soaking people with water hoses and squirt guns."  
I let out a laugh and said, "Wow, that sounds familiar..." while thinking of picture of Patrick, Pete, Andy, and Joe in their boxers, completely soaked.  
I heard a muffled sound and looked over to see Shaquell had gotten up and was walking towards us. She took a look at the four boys sitting on the couch and then stated, "There's four of you but you're not the right four that make up Fall Out Boy. Who are you?"  
I laughed at her straight-forwardness. She sat down by me and I explained, "Shaquell, these are the guys from the band The Starting Line. They're our new friends!"  
"Cool," she said casually.  
We screwed around for a while and took the opportunity to get to know them better before the performance and we'd have to leave to do our jobs. All in all, they were all very sweet and funny.  
But being interrupted during a tickle fight with Kenny was not the highlight of the beginning of this tour.  
_hours later _- night time

"I'm tired," Kenny yawned before lying on the floor between the two couches. I saw him shut his eyes and I decided that I'd get him back for scaring me earlier. It wasn't exactly my impulse decision but I should've done a lot more thinking than I did.  
I slid down from the couch and sat on his lap and started tickling him. He was a lot more ticklish than I thought he'd be, but that didn't stop my tingling hands. I continued to tickle him until he started crying, "Stop! You got me!" in between laughs.  
But right when I stopped, I realized the bus door was open and four new figures were now at front of the bus. I looked up slowly and saw Patrick looking at us like we were 5 year olds. The lounge had become silent and I looked up and casually said, "Oh hi guys."  
"Hi," he said softly and walked over us and into the back room where they were supposed to get changed. Pete stood in front of me now and was giving me a funny look that was filled with question as I stood up and asked, "What?"  
"Nothing...I see you met the Startling line," he said trailing off. I nodded as the guys talked to each other. I couldn't read the look on Patrick's face as he walked back into the room and remained quiet.  
Soon, the starting line left and Andy, Pete, and Joe were standing outside. Shaquell and Jess had left early to go to their posts so it was just Patrick and I in the bus. It was very quiet between the two of us so when he started walking outside, I grabbed his shoulder and asked, "What's going on?"  
He turned around and with a calm but sad look in his eyes, he softly said, "Nothing."  
He tried to walk off but I grabbed him again and said, "Patrick, I'm not stupid. I know when there's something wrong."  
He sighed and said, "Look, its not a big deal."  
I frowned and said, "You say that but I know you don't feel that way. I can tell. Why are you avoiding me?"  
"I don't want to tell you right nowbut I will after the show. Trust me, you don't want to know now," he exhaled as he walked off without a glance at me. His head was hung low and his voice was hushed. Did something happen?  
My mind was racing with thoughts and assumptions that could be placed but I tried not to think about it as I walked to the stage with my camera ready. A large crowd had formed outside of the little barrier, where security stood guard. I walked to the large guy guarding the area in front of the stage and showed him my pass. He stepped aside, allowing me to move around in front of the stage. My anxious mood from before had now sunk into a worried and upset letdown. I was so excited to take pictures of the band, but now, all I had on my mind was Patrick.


	13. Hurt

_After the show _

Everyone had left and I stood backstage waiting for Patrick to come out. Pete stopped by me and said, "He's stalling. His past caught up to him today and he's trying to think of what to say," before hugging me and saying, "good luck, here he comes."  
I looked up and saw Patrick's face looking exhausted. I couldn't tell whether if it was from the stress or the fact that he just played an hour show. When he approached me, I wearily kept my distance because the last thing I'd want is for him to grow impatient with me. He sighed and I asked, "What happened today?"  
"A phone call," he said in deep voice that startled me, "from a girl I didn't want to talk to."  
I stared at my feet. I didnt know where he was going with this but my mind was running through a list of possibilities.  
"Remember when you left three years ago? Well, after the first few months, I finally gave up on seeing you again so I started dating this girl named Amber. We dated for a year and then we broke up because she cheated on me with another guy. Well, it turns out that she ended up getting pregnant from this same guy and he left her. She has no family so she has nowhere to goand she wants to stay with us for a little while," he said in a rough tone. It was obvious that he had been stressing about it.  
"What're you going to do?" I asked nearly in a whisper. His head hung low as he said, "I don't know," before he looked up into my eyes for the first time this entire conversation and asked, "How do I say no?"  
I shook my head and said, "Patrick, I don't think you have a choice. Even if you don't want her here, if she has nowhere else to go, you can't just abandon her."  
He rubbed his head and said surreptitiously, "The truth is, I never wanted you to have to meet her. I figured you'd be appalled at knowing that I was with someone else for a little while"  
I shrugged and said, "Well, it depends. How serious was the relationship?"  
He bit his lip and repeated, "How serious was the relationship? Compared to what?"  
Shit. He was onto my curiosity...so I shut my eyes and blurted agitatedly, "Compared to ours, stupid!"  
His shocked face mouthed, "Oh," as he sheepishly mumbled, "Just a teeny bit more serious than ours."  
My mouth hung open a little as I then said, "You're not leaving her alone, Patrick. I don't care if I have to suffer being around one of your ex-girlfriends! Why would I care?"  
Okay, so I was _totally _lying when I said that. I did care a lot. But he can't leave her like that. It's going to bug me whether she comes or not so we'll lean on the side that gives her a chance. Besides, I'm sure she can't be that bad...right? RIGHT?  
Oh...I'm so screwed.  
I felt the nerve to ask, "How far along is she?"  
"Not very far at all. I think she found out a few weeks ago," he admitted, which made me let out a huge "ugh," before saying, "This is going to be a long 9 months."  
"Oh," Patrick said before clarifying, "she wants to stay for longer then 9 months."  
I could feel my anger level rising higher and higher. I was on my last nerve and what he said next just sent me over the edge.  
"Yeah, she's 4 years younger than you."  
"Ahhhhh!" I screamed as my open palm made its handprint on his cheek. His mouth dropped open and he shouted, "What did I do?"  
"You went out with a 16 year old! That's fucking illegal, dumb ass!" I yelled while punching him all over in my raging bitch fit.  
He tried making an excuse by saying, "Well, she was a really mature 16 year old. Besides, she's 18 **now**."  
I then screamed in frustration before stomping off, while hearing him call in the background, "But you're the one who said she should stay!"  
I raised my middle finger in the air as I stomped back and punched the side of the bus as hard as I could. By this time, tears were streaming down my face like a water faucet. How could he say those things without thinking? Am I just a toy to him?  
Who cares if she's 18 now? GOD, maybe he could just go and screw her and take me out of this damn tour!  
I heard footsteps running towards the bus. I turned away and hid my head underneath my hood.  
"Oh my god, sweetheart, you're a mess!" Pete cried and bent down and picked me up since by this point, I was too tired to move.  
"You're bleeding," he said as he looked at my fist, where I punched the bus. He tried to unravel my mangled fist but I started crying from the throbbing and said, "Don't do that. It hurts!"  
"Sorry," he apologized before grabbing some ice and numbing the pain, "I saw the whole thing, I'm so sorry. We didn't know any of this would happen."  
I shook my head and with my open hand covered my face and I stifled out, "Don't remind me. I don't want to do this..."  
"Shh," he quieted me down and said, "Don't worry about that right now. I want you to calm down for a few minutes okay?"  
I nodded and whimpered, "Thanks for being so nice to me, Pete. I'm sorry that I was so rude to you in the beginning. You've changed so much."  
He halfway smiled before noticing two pairs of eyes looking in from the bunks. He shook his head and said, "Shaquell, Jessica, I believe your friend is in need of extreme comfort."  
They both came and sat on each side of me. Shaquell laid her shoulder on mine and said, "It won't be as bad as you think."  
"It'll be worse," I said in a barley audible whisper.  
"Where's Andy?" I asked suddenly. Andy has always been the one who comforted me in times like these and now, in one of the worst situations in my life, he's nowhere to be found.  
Pete answered after he finished bandaging up my hand, "I don't know where he went. He was with Joe and me when the accident happened. We were right around the corner. He said he's never seen you that mad before and he wouldn't know what to say to you after witnessing that. I think he's questioning his brotherly ability so you should probably go find him."  
"Wow Pete, I'm very impressed with your communicating skills. I underestimated you," said Shaquell in response to what Pete said. He smiled and said, "Yeah, I get that a lot," before locking his arm around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss.  
"Yeah, I'm going to go now and give you your privacy," I said awkwardly while wiping my tears and mascara stained face. I then turned and walked out. I didn't realize Jessica followed me out.  
I turned and gawked at her sideways before a random thought came into my head, "I just realized that since you're my half sister, you just barely missed being related to Andy. Wow, that would suck! If Andy were my real brother, you'd be his sister! You're dating him so that's like...EW!"  
She looked at the ground to take all that into thought before saying, "Wow, you're right! That'd be awkward!"  
I let out a tiny laugh before going off and searching for Andy.

I ended up finding Andy standing by himself next to the merch stand.  
"Andy, what are you doing here?" I asked him, ignoring my need of comfort.  
"I don't know," he said, making me sigh in need of a better conversation starter.  
I groaned and said, "I just had my worst freak out in history and you abandoned me. I need your advice because I'm absolutely hopeless."  
He smiled and leaned in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around him as if he were someone else and squeezed all my emotion out into him.  
"Ouch," he said as he pulled away. I laughed as him and said, "Oops, I forgot you're breakable."  
"Shut up," he said and lightly smacked the back of my hair so the part in my hair got all messed up.  
"Jerk, you know I hate it when you do that!"  
He smiled and started to fix it for me. I smirked and said, "I knew your OCD would get the best of you. Andy, you're so predictable."  
His laugh made me smile as I sunk my head down and said, "Andy, I'm in a shitty situation. These next few months are going to be miserable for me and you're going to have to find ways to keep me going...I suddenly don't like this job anymore."  
"Well," he started to say, "I think you should try and bare it and see how that goes. I mean, try to stay on the positive side and be strong. You've got friends to stick with and we'll always watch out for you, kiddo."  
"Thanks. I'll really try...but I really don't want to meet her if she cheated on Patrick," I said honestly.  
"She wasn't a bad person, I think it was just a mistake. But I'd rather see Patrick with you than anyone else. Just make sure you claim him as your before the opportunity fades away."  
I sighed and said, "I'll probably just runaway."  
"Don't say that! It'll come true!"


	14. There's a light on in Chicago

So, that was it. Patrick called Amber and they had arranged for her to come when warped tour was over. The events that lead up to it all flew by so fast.  
Right now, I'm standing with Pete, Andy, Joe, and Patrick in a hallway inside of an airport in Philadelphia waiting for a girl I didn't want to meet or have anything to do with. Do you wonder how it ended up here? We ended up getting in a van accident on our way to New York, where Amber lives. We slid on black ice and ended up crashing into a forest. No one got severely injured other than a few cuts and bruises and freezing fingers, due to cold. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere for a few hours before we could get picked up by a towing service. We rented a suburban and called Amber and Patrick bought her a ticket so she could fly down her. How fortunate for her.  
I sighed and scanned the crowds of people for her. I didn't eve know what she looked like so it's not like I really expected to find her. Of course, I would've loved if I never had to see her at all. But that just wasn't my luck. A gorgeous blonde haired girl walked towards our large group and she embraced Patrick. She had chopped hair at the top and her makeup stood out vibrantly and very professional looking. She was beautiful. I felt absolutely crushed and my ego was reduced to crumbs. She was the same height as Pete and was really thin compared to me. I actually had always been considered normal-sized and I knew I was. But when standing next to Amber, I felt obese.  
She looked like a model. How could this be the girl who cheated on Patrick? She didn't even look the slightest bit pregnant, although no one would this early. I felt like a bad person because the whole way here, I had been wishing that she would be hideous. I should've known better.  
She was so young. She was 16 when her and Patrick were together. The thought makes me cringe. She's only 18 now. When I was 18, I was way too immature to be dealing with what she's dealing with nowcome to think of it, I'm _still _way too immature to deal with that.  
The confident image of myself that I once had was now minimized to gum underneath a shoe.  
I watched as she greeted Andy with a huge hug as if she'd known him her whole life. He was thrown off and glanced at me with a look that was filled with confusion and anger. I shook my head and she walked up to me. I was staring at the ground so the first thing I saw was her feet standing in front of me causing me to look up from my insecure gaze at the floor.  
"Hi, my name is Amber! You must be Nathalie!" she introduced herself in a high-pitched voice. I just stood there and stared blankly and she hugged me and squeezed really hard and oozed, "I hope that while I'm here, we become best friends!"  
She smiled widely as she let me go and I accidentally released a huge exhale from the suffocation she had just made me endure. She pouted at my reaction and looked over at the guys, where Pete said, "Oh, don't mind her; she's not used to..." he trailed off and looked over at my glowering expression and said, "lighthearted welcomes."  
I sighed agitatedly and glared at him before rushing ahead of everyone and angrily biting my lip to keep me from saying anything. Instead, I eavesdropped the conversation going on behind me with Amber and Patrick.  
"So how was your flight?" he asked.  
"Horrible! There was this mean old guy who sat next to me and he complained about how he can't keep a job and how modern society is crashing towards the end of humanity the entire way here!" she said in a whiny childish voice.  
"Oh, sorry you had to go through that trouble. But was there any problem with the staff?"  
"Not really," she said before whispering loudly, "Look! There's the old guy now! He's sooooo ugly, isn't he?"  
The guy looked over at her and him and scoffed out a, "God damn kids these days."  
Patrick let out a soft laugh as we reached the luggage carrier. We waited for a whole 10 minutes before the two largest bags came into our view.  
"Those are mine!" she shouted excitedly. Why was this girl so happy? What was there to be happy about? She seemed too stupid to have sex. I don't even want to imagine how that pregnancy came to be.  
"So, tell me something. What made Levi leave you?" Patrick asked her. She bit her lip and said, "Well, I told him I was pregnant and he just freaked out. I guess he wasn't ready for a kid yet...I don't believe in abortion. It's wrong to kill something so harmless! I really really miss Levi."  
I turned around, suddenly feeling sorry for her. She looked a sad little girl. Her eyes looked lonely when she talked bout him. Maybe she was human...but that still didn't mean I had to like her.  
I rode in the front since I didn't want to sit in the back with _her _. Andy drove us to the hotel where we had two rooms. Each room held four people. That would mean that there are four guys and four girls. Jessica and Shaquell were already in the room and had already decided which bed they wanted. I have to sleep with Amber for tonight, unfortunately.  
"Hey, Shaquell and I are going to go hang out downstairs in the lobby. You coming?" asked Jess as soon as I settled all my stuff down. I shook my head and said, "No, I'm going to try and catch up on some rest. See you later."  
I went and laid down on my side of the bed. Then as soon as I shut my eyes, the hotel door slammed open and in came Amber rushing ahead of Patrick and Pete who were both carrying her two HUGE bags.  
They set them down with a loud thump and Amber crooned, "Thanks for helping me, boys!" as they walked over to their room across the hall. As soon as she shut the door to our hotel, she immediately plopped on the other bed and whipped out her phone and started texting someone. The clicks and beeps were getting on my nerves so I politely asked, "Do you mind turning that off? I'm trying to sleep."  
She didn't even look up. She just, "Sorry. I can't. I'm in an argument with Levi."  
I sat up and said, "Excuse me? Did you say Levi? I thought he left you! I mean, isn't that why you're here?"  
She glanced up and said, "Yeah, he ditched me and kicked me out of our apartment. I'm still working on trying to get back with him but he just doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore. This is so stupid because it's his fault!"  
I mumbled an, "Mhmm," in a attempt to ignore her.  
"Oh my god! He found out I'm staying with Patrick! What if he drives down here tonight and breaks into their hotel room and tries to strangle him?" she squealed. I rolled my eyes and said, "Is your boyfriend some kind of homicidal maniac?"  
"No..."  
"Then don't worry about it. Patrick wouldn't try anything knowing you're pregnant," I said nonchalantly, even though I was really trying to avoid the subject.  
It was silent for a few moments before she asked, "You love him, don't you?"  
I nearly fell off the bed from startle before screaming, "Why would you ask that? I don't even know you for one day and already you're asking weird questions about my love life! Do me a favor and mind your own business."  
I turned my back on her and it was like I could hear her smile before saying, "So you do love him? Aw, that's so cute!"  
"Shut up! You don't know anything about me," I said coldly.  
"Well, I only know from what Patrick's told me about you and he talks about you a lot!" she replied cheerfully.  
"Really?" I caught myself asking before shaking my head saying, "No, I don't care! He's a fucking jerk!"  
She sighed and said, "Denial."  
I rolled my eyes, laid back down, and stared at the ceiling spacily.  
She laughed and said, "Patrick's a great catch. He's one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. Too bad he just wasn't the right one for me."  
"Tell me more," I said suddenly interested. She smiled and sighed dreamily before saying, "Well, when we were dating, it just didn't seem like we were connecting. He wasn't really that interested in me and I didn't know why. I asked him and he told me about a girl he liked and how she disappeared," she trailed off while I awkwardly crossed my legs before continuing, "I didn't mean to cheat on him. It wasn't planned. I fell in love with someone else. Simple as that. But I was too scared to tell him because he was so nice."  
She sighed and explained, "And that's when he found out the hard way. He walked in on me and Levi having sex and he left right on the spot. I felt horrible and that's why I was really surprised that he let me stay with you guys...you were that girl he was talking about, right?"  
I remained silent as I took this all in.  
"Yeah," I answered finally after five minutes of silence.  
"He finally found you again. I'm so proud of him!" she oozed before saying, "I am so envious of you, Nathalie. I mean, that has to be fate. You seem confused on your feelings but I bet if you really think it over, you'll understand what to do. But you can't run away."  
...  
...  
...  
...  
...  
"I need to go home," I said suddenly. She was so startled that she fell off the bed.  
"What?" she shouted.  
"I'm going home. My heart is in Chicago and if Patrick wants it, he's going to have to go and find it," I said seriously. I stood up slowly and walked out the door and across the hall. I knocked on the door to the boys room and Pete opened it.  
"Hey, do you need something?" he asked. I shook my head and said, "Pete, tell everyone I'm sorry."  
"Sorry for what?" he asked puzzled. I looked at the ground and said, "I'm going back to Chicago."  
"Why?" he shouted higher pitched than usual. I frowned and said, "My heart is in Chicago and if Patrick wants it, he has to find it there. I mean, I want to go sort my life out for myself and try to understand my real feelings before I rush into something and make a big mistake...I'm sorry, but I quit," and handed him my camera, which had hung around my neck like a medallion.


	15. The End

Things had been going pretty well so far, minus the few catty comments me and Amber threw at each other but little did I know, things were about to get worse.  
"So Pete, why are all your lyrics so angry? I haven't heard one Fall out Boy love song yet and it makes me wonder if you've had any luck with girls," Amber, who was sitting next to me, mentioned to Pete. He shrugged and said, "Shaquell is the first girl who has yet to screw me over. Girls can be pretty evil sometimes."  
"You don't say," I said conspicuously while looking straight at Amber before commenting, "love can be the best thing in your life or it can be the worse thing. It all depends on how people respond to it."  
Amber then snickered and said, "Yeah. That's kind of how your situation is with Patrick. You lead him on and then you completely ignore the fact that you're completely in love with him!"  
My mouth dropped as I stood up and yelled, "What the hell is your problem? It's none of your god damn business on how I handle my love life! It doesn't give you the right to stick your nose in things and ruin everyone's lives!"  
She then stood up too and shoved my shoulder and said, "If you don't tell him, you're going to lose him! I hope he fucking abandons you for how long you've been putting him off!" before snatching my wine glass and splashing it on my skirt.  
"I hate you!" I screamed as the tears streamed down and my fist flew towards her face. I heard a large crack and the room went dead silent as I looked around and saw nothing but eyes staring at me. Oh, I think I've made a big mistake now.  
The silence breaks when I hear Amber sobbing and crying, "She broke my nose! That bitch fucking broke my nose!"  
I looked down at my fist and saw that it was drenched in blood. My eyes widened when I realized what I'd done.  
"Oh my god...I'm so sorry," was all I managed to get out of my mouth. I looked to find Shaquell and Jessica were standing by Amber and trying to lead her outside. All the guys were in shock of what just happened. I couldn't blame them. They must think I'm a psycho.  
I kept on mumbling "oh my god" a million times as I ran to the bathroom and washed my hand off.  
"I can't go back to the hotel tonight. Everyone is going to hate me for what I did to Amber," I whispered as I dried my hands and walked out the back exit. It was freezing out and I had nothing but a lavender dress to keep me warm. How silly of me to not wear a coat tonight. Oh well, I can't go back though.

* * *

_Patrick's point of view _  
I watched in horror as Nathalie's fist cracked Amber's nose. I had mixed feelings on this event. I was shocked that Nathalie could hit that hard with her eyes shut. I was mad that they would fight about me. I was confused why Nathalie keeps on hiding her feelings. And I was worried about where she went.  
She's legendary for running off when I needed her most. I was still sitting down at the table where Joe then laughed and pointed at me and yelled, "My date totally kicked your date's ass!"  
I shook my head at his reaction to such a serious incident. Then I put my hand in the air and jokingly said, "Check please," making Andy, Pete, and Joe laugh for a minute before they all left to go check on Amber and the rest of the girls. I decided to go look for Nathalie. She just ran off into an unfamiliar city in the dead of night without a jacket. I hope she's okay.  
I walked around the city for nearly an hour and finally decided that it'd be smarter to look with a vehicle. I sat down on a bench and pulled my cell phone out of my coat pocket and called Pete.  
"Dude, where'd you go?"  
"I went after Nathalie. I can't find her anywhere, dude, and I'm really scared that she's lost somewhere. Do you think you can pick me up in the van and help me look for her?"  
"Uh...yeah I can do that. Amber left with Jessica and Shaquell to the hospital in a taxi so it's just me; the rest of the guys went back to the hotel. I'll see you in a little bit then, okay?"  
"Alright, bye."  
I waited 5 minutes before Pete came with the van. We then ventured all over the city looking for her and found no sign of her. She'd been gone nearly 3 hours now. I turned to Pete and asked, "Where do you think she'd go?"  
He shook his head and said, "I don't know but she mentioned wanting to go back to Chicago earlier today. Maybe she's at the train station."  
"But Pete, thats so far to walk. Do you think she even made it?" I asked cautiously. He shrugged and said, "We might as well check."  
I nodded and we started heading towards the train station. From the restaurant, this was a 15-minute drive, which meant that it would take nearly an hour to get there on foot. It was below zero degrees out though; she couldn't have made it.  
I stared out the window and searched for any sign of human life within all the trees and snow. But then something shiny caught my eye from underneath the snow.  
"Pete, pull over!" I yelled and he did so. I opened the door and practically leaped into the snow, which was up to my ankles. I stumbled towards the shiny object and recognized it as the diamond necklace that Nathalie was wearing earlier. I started frantically digging through the snow before I found her cold body. Her lips were light blue and her closed eyes were dark and lifeless.  
Pete caught up and helped me get her out of the snow. I carried her to the van with her head on my shoulder. Inside, I was praying to anyone who was out there that she would make it through this.  
Pete nearly killed us on the way to the hospital as we rushed her in carefully and they took her away behind the big swinging white doors. I hated hospitals.  
I sat in the waited room and Pete called everyone and told them we were at the same hospital. Shaquell and Jessica had come and sat down by me.  
"God, I really hope she's okay. How critical did she look?" Jessica asked. I sighed and said, "Her lips and fingers were blue and the rest of her was extremely pale. She wasn't shivering though and she was unconscious."  
She bit her lip and Shaquell broke out into tears and started shaking. Then Jessica looked up at me and said, "That's stage 2 hypothermia...but if the shivering stopped then it means it's heading into stage 3..." before gradually tears formed in her eyes and she said, "Stage 3 is terminal."  
I felt my gut tense up as I looked and saw Pete talking to Andy on the phone while rubbing Shaquell's back for comforting.  
"Where's Nathalie?" I glanced up and saw Amber with a huge band-aid over here nose.  
"Intensive care," I answered bluntly.  
"What?" she screamed and ran over to me, "Is she alright? What happened?"  
"She did what she always does. She ran," I said glumly. I was trying to be strong through all this but I could feel my stability weakening. But my heart literally stood still as the doctor came up to me and said, "Hello, are you the man who brought Nathalie Hurley in?"  
I nodded and he sighed and said, "Well, we've pumped ounces of warming fluids into her and she seems to be taking it well. We're working on getting her body temperature up right now but since you're rather important to her, we were hoping maybe you could talk to her and help her gain sanity since she's suffering through temporary amnesia."  
I grew severely scared as I walked away from my friends in the waiting room and into a long white hallway that had the hygienic smell of chemicals. I followed the doctor until he turned right and stopped in a doorway.  
"She's in this room right here. If you need assistance, press this button," he said while pointing to a large red button on the wall.  
I nodded and walked in and watched as the doctor left me alone. She was lying on a large bed that was covered in therapeutic blankets. Her skin was still pale but her lips were no longer blue. I decided to say something and witness this temporary amnesia for myself.  
"Nathalie?" I stated more like a question. I felt nervous from this enclosed room and the large doctor's utensils hanging everywhere.  
She said something but her voice was very muffled and scratchy-sounding. I inched forward and said, "Say again?"  
"Why would a gigantic purple teddy bear visit little ole' me?" she said again, confusing me terribly. I then corrected her and said, "No, this is Patrick. Don't you remember me?"  
She blankly stared at the ceiling as she mumbled, "Patrick..."  
Then she said, "I don't know anybody named Patrick," which hurt me like a stab in the heart. She was slowly moving but not by much. She was still very weak and I didn't want to provoke her and make her have a seizure or something.  
I inched even closer to her side and extended my hand out to grab her hand. She didn't do anything and instead just said, "Why does every guy just try to get in my pants? The only guy who wasn't a jerk was Mr. Moopolopolys. He was such a cutie...what happened to him? Oh yeah! The green eyed monster in my soul punched out the prissy little missy and I ran away!"  
Well, this sounded oddly familiar to the situation earlier where she had punched Amber in the nose after arguing about me...what an odd way to word it though.  
Then she looked up at me and asked, "Why did you date that evil girl?"  
"Uh," I mumbled as she started to freak out at me.  
"Every time I tried to love you, you would always be in some kind of funk and would ignore me! We could've been something!" she screamed at me causing me to slowly back away. Her breathing got heavy and I saw her eyes roll into the back of her head as her heart monitor started beating out of control before one long "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep."  
I ran to the button and pressed it several times causing a million nurses to charge into the room. The room turned to chaos as a nurse pressed a button on the intercom and signaled, "Code blue. Repeat code blue. This is not a drill!"  
Two nurses started to shove me out of the room but not before I witnessed what they were going to do. They had whipped out the paddles and were going to charge electricity through her.  
As the nurses held me back, I screamed out impulsively, "Nathalie, you have to make it through! You can't give up on me! I never did anything with Amber, I swear!" before finally being dragged out with my face drenched in tears.  
Andy took my hand and helped me off the ground and hugged me. I felt more tears slip down my face as I mumbled, "Code blue...I can't believe she's gone."

* * *

"You don't know that. She can come back. She's not dead until she's declared dead on paper," Andy said bolder than I've ever heard him.  
"But I watched her go...she gave up on wai-" I started to say but at that moment a doctor walked out of those huge doors and I parted away from Andy and the doctor came up to me with a smile.  
"I don't have a clue of what your relationship with her was but I swear to God, you're a miracle worker. I've only seen a few cases like this but I really think it was you who saved her. She came back and her heart rate went back to normal and her memory is back. There are almost always complications after cardiac arrest like arrhythmias or seizures but I'm amazed at what happened here tonight. It's truly one of those once in a lifetime miracles, I'd say," he said and shook my hand, obviously in shock.  
"Aw man, thank you so much," I said and hugged him.  
"No problem, it's my job. But you can visit her now. Your whole group can."  
I turned around and everyone was jumping up and hugging each other. It was truly one of the happiest moments of my life. I walked down that hallway and into her room and sat down right beside her. Her eyes opened and she smiled. Her eyes had that sparkle of life in them and they gave me the fuzziest feeling inside. She reached out and grabbed my hand and said,  
"Patrick, I saw the light and the only thing I had on my mind was leaving you and how much it'd kill me even if I'd go to Heaven. Leaving you here alone would be my Hell. I do love you and I'm so sorry that I made you wait."  
I smiled widely and I felt my cheeks grow warm as I sat closer and said, "I love you too. I always have!" and I leaned over her and kissed her softly on the lips.  
"Aw, how cute! You two finally confessed to each other!" said a voice coming from the door way. I didn't have to look up to know who it was. It was Amber. She had been trying to make this work since the moment she arrived and although she earned a broken nose for sticking her nose in our business, she still deserved a thank you. Shaquell, Jessica, Andy, Pete, and Joe all spread out through out the room.  
I was about to say it when I was interupted by Nathalie who said it for me.  
"Thank you for caring so much, Amber. I'm sorry I got mad and broke your nose. I'll admit it now, in front of everyone, that I, Nathalie Lynn Hurley, am in love with Patrick Martin Stump."  
The room filled with cheers from our friends and I decided to take this moment to ask her an important question that I think she'd like to hear, "Nathalie Lynn Hurley, will you move in with me at my new house in Chicago?"  
Her jaw dropped and she said, "I'd love to!"  
And so, Nathalie moved in with me and we lived in Chicago, Illinois.

* * *

_**2 years later- In Nathalie's point of view**  
_So, I moved into Patrick's large house in the beautiful city of Chicago that I'd been waiting to go home to since the beginning of time. But I don't think anything before could beat my happiness now. Today was the anniversary of the day Patrick and I met 5 years ago at Pete's house. Back then; we were nothing but a couple of clueless 18 year olds who had no idea of the future we'd experience with each other.  
So, Fall Out Boy had released their second major label album called "From Under the Cork Tree" and their first single was "Sugar, we're going down" which become number one TRL, and ever since then, they've had lots of success. Currently, they're working on their second video for a song called, "Dance, Dance". I don't get to see Patrick as often as I'd like but it's not like we're married. Besides, he had an important job and I couldn't be more proud of his achievement.  
As for the rest of us, we kind of split up during the launching of FOB's success. Shaquell was still with Pete and she was very pleased. Well, one was because she was with teenage America's hottest male musician and two was because he liked to buy her things and gave her plenty of affection.  
Amber had her baby and actually ended up getting back together with Levi, who after loads of physical persuasion by the entire band of Fall out boy, finally got used to the idea of having a kid around. They both became runway models for Clandestine Industries, Pete's clothing brand.  
And Jessica had gotten married to Andy, and was officially both my half-sister and my sister in-law. How convenient. She still worked as a roadie but was promoted to top roadie managing, which meant she got to boss everyone around.  
And as for me, I became a professional photographer for a Chicago fashion magazine. Pete asked if I wanted to be their photographer still but I politely turned him down, since I wanted to stay in Chicago.  
Today, I had a day-off since it was a special day for Patrick and me. He promised to call me today but he's yet to do so.  
After a long while of waiting (approximately 2 hours), he finally called me.  
"Hey sweetie, how are you?" he asked when I picked up.  
"I'm doing alright. So is there anything special you wanted to say to me today?"  
"Um, I love you?"  
I sighed and said, "Well, I love you too but I mean, was there anything out of the usual you wanted to say?"  
It was quiet for a few seconds and then he said, "Oh, it's Tuesday, right? Ha ha, I'm just kidding with you, babe, happy anniversary!"  
I smiled and said, "Can you believe it? It's been 5 years since we first met!"  
"I know. I've got a surprise for you though. Go and stand on the deck."  
"But what would be out-" I paused in mid sentence and dropped the phone and saw Patrick standing in the yard with his guitar strapped around his neck. He hung up the phone and started playing something on his guitar. It sounded something like this. 

_"I've been really tryin', baby  
Tryin' to hold back this feeling for so long  
And if you feel like I feel, baby  
C'mon, oh, c'mon, ooh  
Let's get it on  
Let's get it on  
Let's love, baby  
Let's get it on, sugar  
Let's get it on, ooh  
We are all sensitive people  
With so much to give  
Understand me, sugar  
Since we've got to be here  
Let's live  
I love you  
There is nothing wrong with me  
Loving you, we can love on  
And giving yourself to me can never be wrong  
If the love is true  
Oh baby, ooh  
You don't have to worry  
I ain't gonna push, won't push you baby  
So c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, baby  
Stop beatin' 'round the bush  
Let's get it on  
Let's get it on  
You know what I'm talkin' about  
C'mon, baby  
Let your love come out  
If you believe in love  
Let's get it on  
Let's get it on, baby  
This minute, babe  
And if the spirit moves you  
Let me groove you  
C'mon let your love come out  
If you believe in love  
Let's get it on"_

When he finished, he smiled at my awe and put down his guitar and got down on his knee and pulled out a ring box. He opened it and said, "Nathalie, you are the love of my life. I love being with you, singing in front of you, kissing you, the whole package. I love you so much and I hate that I couldn't make a better speech before I ask you this, but, Nathalie Lynn Hurley, will you marry me?"  
My jaw dropped and I literally screamed for 5 seconds before running down the stairs and jumping into his arms.  
"Yes I will, I love you so much!" I cried before putting my hands on his cheeks and kissing him passionately. He pulled the ring out when I pulled away and placed the ring on my left hand.  
This day was indeed the best day of my life. My life isn't even done yet either.  
"So, I was thinking we should move to LA since Chicago is so two years ago, you know?" he said in a joking voice. I shook my head and wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close to my face and kissed him before saying, "**Sorry love, but my heart is in Chicago and you've got the world right here.**"


End file.
